Maybe
by TheWriterWhoWaited
Summary: Alessandra was an orphan living in a foster home full of five other girls with a dream. A dream to find out who her parents were. While running away into the city one day, she meets a billionaire who might help that dream come true…or her worst nightmare.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! This is the first chapter to a new story that I am writing. I started to write this around the time when the new Annie movie was coming out back in 2014. I grew up on the musical Annie (and no, I did not enjoy the new one a lot because of the way the changed the music). I hope you enjoy and leave a response to let me know your thoughts!**

 **Yes, this story is starting off very similar to the musical, but don't worry because after a chapter or two, it will be different!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Marvel and Annie or it's characters. The girls in the foster home and Ceri are based on the orphans from the musical Annie.**

Chapter 1

It was late that summer night in Manhattan as the chilly air seeped through the cracks of the window of the home. Five girls curled up in their beds in one room. One was trying to sleep, while the others were wide awake listening to a story one was telling.

"Iron Man came banking around the corner of the building with the giant alien behind him. And a man turns into a giant green monster and roars while he punched the giant alien in the face once it came close enough!" The girl, Emily, held up her hands and curled her fingers in as if they were claws and roared. Her blonde hair whipped around at the exaggerated movements and almost smacked another girl, July, in the face. "The explosion after that was so loud, I could feel it in my bones - my heart jolting as pieces of the alien's armor flew everywhere!"

A girl in the bunk bed beside her, rolled her eyes. "There was no way you could have been there. You were with us the whole time as the city went into lockdown!"

"You're wrong, Lexi. I was there. I cannot forget about it. I sometimes even have nightmares. In my dreams, I always come across those smaller aliens on the hover scooters that came this close to me." She held her hands a short distance apart. "And it attacked with its giant teeth and blade until the one and only Captain America saved me. He fought it off with his shield!" The girls awed while Lexi just rolled her eyes once again and pulled up her blankets to her chin.

Emily kept going on about her story until the end. Once all the girls decided to go to sleep they were awaken by someone crying. The girl who was the first to fall asleep jumped down from her bed to the one underneath.

"What's wrong, Angie?" She asked the six year old who laid, twisted up in her sheets with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Sitting up, Angie wiped the tears away. "I'm scared no one will adopt me."

Groans echoed across the room.

Lexi propped herself up on her elbows, her dark almost black curly hair sticking up in odd places. "Why are you still whining about that? You know no one is ever going to adopt us. Not living like this in this dump run by the Grinch."

"Cállate!" Lessa hissed.

Narrowing her eyes, Lexi retorted, "What? You know it's true!"

Angie ignored Lexi and stared up at Lessa. "Don't you ever wish you had a mom and dad?"

Lessa nodded, brushing Angie's brown hair away from her face. "I always do. In fact, I think I am going to try find them tomorrow!"

"Yeah and it will be the fifth time you will. Someone will catch you. You know how strict the Grinch is."

Lessa shot a dark look at Lexi. "I have it all planned out. I have a few tricks up my sleeve so she won't ever find out about it. Now go back to sleep. We don't want to wake up the Grinch."

"And when she wakes up…" Angie shuddered. Lessa nodded. Angle laid back down in her bed and pulled the sheets up to her chin. When she spoke, her voice was quiet enough to where Lexi wouldn't be able to hear her from across the room. "She doesn't mean it, does she?"

"No she doesn't. She is just messing with you. Night." Nodding, Angie's eyes slid shut. Lessa climbed up to her bunk,

She stared up as the ceiling as she heard Angie's breathing slowed as she slumbered into sleep. Lessa wished could fall that easily asleep at that moment, but too many things were on her mind.

Fantasies of what she imagined her parents to be like floated around in her head. She could see her mother, who had the same dark brown eyes and small smile, help her with her homework while her dad who had her hair and crooked nose, cooked a famous family dish that sent her stomach growling. Of course, she was guessing what her parents would look like. Growing up in a few foster homes her whole life, she never knew what her parents were like and whether they were heartwarming or the rudest people she would ever meet. As the years rolled by, only having a small note saying that her parents would return for her, she hoped they were nice.

* * *

Tony Stark pushed away from the computer. His eyes drooped with exhaustion.

Pulled up on the screen of his were the blueprints to his current project. The structure and outline was to the building he currently lived in after the Mandarin destroyed his mansion in in Malibu. Stark Tower survived Loki's invasion, which was a surprise to Tony, except for the top main floor. Of course it was up to the Hulk on deciding to pound the god of mischief into the tiled floors of the new building creating a crater in the middle of the room.

Music blared from the speakers that lined along the walls of the room and he leaned back in his chair and hummed to the song that played.

"J.A.R.V.I.S.," he said aloud. "I need you to save the files. I'm taking a break."

"Yes, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony's artificial intelligence said. "Files saved."

With that, Tony got up from his seat and left the room.

Walking out of the main doors, Tony didn't know exactly why he wanted to walk around the city. He could have just sat on the terrace of the tower. However, it was rare for Tony to walk among the streets of the city. For a billionaire and a superhero, it could be risky, especially after all the attention the media was giving him. At that moment, he could actually care less. He needed different scenery.

* * *

Lessa's feet pounded against the ground. Maneuvering around the crowd of people along the sidewalk, she needed to find a different place since the library was full. She also looked for a place to hide. It would be minutes until Lessa would start seeing the police bikes and cars wandering around the streets of Manhattan. While paying attention to what was behind her, her sight was a blur as she kept whipping her head around.

Her first task was the get as far away from her so called foster home. Since it was in a less populated area of the city, being able to disappear into a larger crowd would work. Guilt started to set in the moment she sneaked out of the window. The knowledge of the other girls working all day long when she was roaming around the city didn't sit right with her. Especially when she was leaving Angie.

Maybe once she finds her parents, they could adopt Angie!, she thought. Lessa didn't know how exactly she would find her parents, let alone knew what they looked like, but deciding to just search around the city first was a good way to start.

The street was free of any police behind her. Last time she went out of the house without permission, the Grinch found out and called the police. When Lessa was finally back, she got an earful from her foster mother for at least two hours. She didn't want to relive that again. Filled with relief, Lessa turned her head around. She had hit a hard surface making her wonder if she ran into a bus stop. Lessa flew backwards onto the concrete with a cry.

"Watch it!" A deep voice snapped at her. Opening her eyes, Lessa peered up to see a man reaching down and grabbing her arm. Panic began to set in.

"Let me go!" She screamed.

The man did not let go of her arm, he only held onto it tighter. Lessa tried pulling her arm away, but all the man did was just laugh. She caught glimpses of his features as her mind was whirling. He had long terribly cut long brown hair with half of it hanging in his face and a dirty old beat-up jacket.

Not good, she thought.

Lessa screamed and thrashed around as the man started to drag her down the sidewalk. She tried to latch onto someone for them to help, but everyone she passed just stayed clear of the two keeping their eyes straight ahead as if everything was normal.

This infuriated Lessa. She was being dragged behind the man so she took the advantage and kicked him in the back of his knees. The man's legs buckled under him, loosening his hold on her. Taking another advantage before he could come to his senses and stand back up, Lessa lifted her foot and kicked him in the head.

The man cursed at Lessa as her foot slammed against his head. With her foot was still on his head, Lessa used that to twist her body around and launch herself off into a run across the street at a stop light ahead.

Cars honked at her and screeched their tires as they stopped before they could hit Lessa. The drivers yelled, but she ignored it.

"Wait!" Someone shouted from behind. Footsteps followed her across the street and down the two blocks she ran. Lessa searched for somewhere to hide but a hand pulled her back. Lessa threw her fists up and pounded on the person, not opening her eyes believing it was the attacker.

"Hey! Calm down!" The person said. Lessa slowed her fists noticing the different voice. It wasn't as deep as the kidnapper, but she could tell it was male. "I won't hurt you."

Lessa opened her eyes to face a different man. He didn't look menacing to Lessa at all. Hiding behind sunglasses, the man had blue eyes. His hair was short and black that was spiked up at the front and wore a band t-shirt and jeans. He had a goatee that extended along his jaw but didn't connect to his mustache. His appearance almost looked familiar to Lessa.

The man pulled her aside close to the doors of a store and kneeled down to her height. His expression was full of worry. "You okay, kid? I saw what happened back there, and I have to say how you pushed off into a run like that after kicking him was awesome."

"Thanks," she said, her answer coming out clearer than she expected. She was beginning to pull away when he rested his hand on her arm. Lessa tensed and sent him a dark look.

The man lifted his hand away and it up in surrender. "Sorry. Anyways, why is a little girl running around the city alone? Where are your parents, kid?"

"Don't call me kid!"

"Fine, what do you want me to call you then?"

Lessa took a moment before answering. She was almost going to say her real name, but decided on using a fake one, even when something in her gut said that she could trust the man. "Scarlet. Call me Scarlet." She remembered the name belonging to an actress who was in a movie the girls watched a few days ago when the Grinch had let them have a movie night. It was different which suited her just fine. "What should I call you?"

"Tony," The man said. "And Scarlet? Interesting name. Where are your parents, Scarlet?"

Lessa pursed her lips. "I don't know. I lost them somewhere in a store."

"I'm assuming by you roaming around the streets and almost getting kidnapped, they never taught you Stranger Danger, did they?" Tony sighed. He couldn't tell what age the girl was. She couldn't been eight years old...maybe even eleven by the way she held herself. The girl had dark long frizzy brown hair that reached past her shoulders, dark olive skin tone, and round dark brown eyes.

"Maybe, maybe not. Did your parents ever teach you?" She taunted, crossing her arms.

Tony smiled at the girl's comeback. "Maybe, but that was years ago. Do you want me to help you find your parents?"

At his question, Lessa's heart sped up. Was this the chance to actually find them? If it was, she couldn't refuse. But from a total stranger? Lessa frowned. The man, Tony, did seem familiar. Especially his name. She would have to keep both eyes open. "Yes," Lessa answered truthfully, smiling. She held out her pinky finger to him. "Do you swear you will help me find my parents and not play any schemes with me? As for an example, kidnapping me or doing any other bad stuff?"

He stared down at her hand. He never had done a pinky swear in years, and he knew it was serious when a little kid did it. Agreeing to her terms, Tony stretched out his pinky and hooked it around hers. Tony clapped her small shoulder and smiled. "Okay, Scarlet. I know a place where there's a database that can't even compete with one at a police station."

Lessa furrowed her eyebrows as she stood straight, bringing her hand back to her side. "What place is that?"

* * *

 **Also a little end note: I am not familiar with how the foster care system (despite all of the research that I did and the prior knowledge I have) so if any info is wrong or if anything needs to be addressed to how it works, please share! The help will be awesome!**

 **Thanks for reading this first chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to all of those who favorited and followed this story! I appreciate the response!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Marvel and Annie or it's characters. The girls in the foster home and Ceri are based on the orphans from the musical Annie.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

In front of Lessa stood one of the tallest buildings in the city. Her jaw hung open as she tilted her head up estimating how many floors there were. "Stark Tower?" Lessa exclaimed. Staring at the building and back at Tony, everything clicked. "Wait...you're Iron Man! Emily always talked about you!"

Beside her, Tony nodded. "Yeah I am. Who's Emily?"

Lessa hesitated for a second. "Uh...my friend. She lives with my family at the moment while her parents are traveling around the country." The lie rolled of her tongue as easy as it was telling the truth. It was a skill she perfected over the years of living at the home and at that moment she was grateful to have it.

She didn't know how to react when Tony had brought her into Stark Tower. Tony kept glancing down at her waiting for a reaction as her brown eyes drank everything in from the furniture to what was hanging upon the walls. A small smile formed on her face.

Tony sat her down on the dark sofa. Taking out his tablet he asked, "So you're parents, do you know their number." Lessa shook her head in a daze. "What store they were in?" She shook her head again. Tony frowned. Usually kids knew their parents phone numbers. "Okay, how about their names?"

Lessa froze. She should have known he would ask that. It never occurred to her that she would need to know their names. "Uh…mom and dad?"

"How about let's just use your last name then." He watched her as he waited for an answer. Confusion swept across her eyes turning into being lost. "Scarlet?"

She thought hard. Of course the Grinch would have brought it up every now and then when she had to go to the doctor's office since she gets sick a lot. Barely? Berry? Perry? Lessa could barely remember. It took her a few minutes as she went down the list of possible names until one rang a bell under the billionaire's questionable stare. "Perez!"

"Scarlet Perez?" Tony asked, a hint of disbelief in his voice. "That's an interesting name. But why Scarlet?"

Lessa shrugged. "I don't know. I guess my parents thought it sounded cool." He typed her name into his tablet and scrolled through the results he received. Each name that showed up had a picture next to it and any Scarlet or Perez person he found didn't look close to the little girl sitting in front of him.

By the hundredth result, he stopped. "Look kid, you can't lie. I just want to get you back home before your face ends up on missing posters all over the city, okay?"

Lessa's face reddened, her lie almost being exposed. She didn't have to lie -no- but she did because she didn't want to end up going back to her so called foster home (which was not like one according to other kids in the foster system). "Alessandra."

"Alessandra? Is that your mom's name?"

"No, it's mine."

"Ah, so you did lie to me."

Her face turned from red to white, feeling ashamed. Lessa nodded and took a deep breath, avoiding his eyes.

Keeping an eye on her, Tony typed her real first name and looked at the results. It took about a page and a half before he found her. Under the relatives list in red it said "unknown".

It was silent as he stared down at the screen. How could her parents be unknown when she had just said she lost them in a store? But then again, the little girl didn't specify when she lost them. Tony searched for an address for where she lived. "Come on, let's get you home."

Home? Did he really find her parents or is he taking her back to her foster home? "Home?" Her eyes widened, hoping that the first one she thought of was true. She stood up, feeling the excitement buzz through her.

Tony smiled at her excitement. "Now c'mon."

While they traveled, Lessa's heart began to drop at the familiar stores and streets that they passed. She looked over to Tony in the driver's seat and frowned and slumped in her seat. She was going back to the Grinch.

Once he found a parking spot, Tony got out and opened up the door for Lessa, walking with her up to the front door of her home. Tony knocked a couple of times, hearing nothing come from the other side of the door.

Lessa looked up at her window and found the girls staring down at her with wide eyes. Emily disappeared from the window once she caught who Lessa was with.

Behind the door, Tony and Lessa heard some stumbles and whispers as someone raced to the door. Tony straightened his back while Lessa hid behind him. When the door swung open, Lessa let out a sigh of relief.

Emily stood in front of them with a smile plastered on her face. "May I help you, Mr. Stark?"

"Can I speak with your guardian?" Tony asked not even phased by Emily's radiating excitement.

Lessa stared at Emily and shook her head pleading that she wouldn't get the Grinch. Emily caught her stare and her smile faltered. She looked up at Tony. "She isn't home at the moment."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows and peered into the townhouse spotting five other girls watching from the small kitchen intently. "Are you sure?"

Emily nodded quickly. "You see, she had a meeting for her job. Come back in an hour." She reached out and pulled Lessa in and went to shut the door until a shout came from within the home.

"Who is at the door?" Came a voice coming down the stairs and turning into the hallway that led to the front door.

"Nobody," Lessa answered, closing the door on Tony. "We thought we heard those cats again but it was only the dog across from us, Ceri."

Ceri rose an eyebrow. In her late thirties, she could have passed as older. Wrinkles creased her face as she held a tight frown. Her dark dyed red hair was pinned up with her usual jaw clip still damp from her recent shower.

Outside, Tony waited to see if the door would open up again. The townhouses were dark brown bricked homes waiting for some renovation to take place. On the other side of the door he heard a scratchy voice yell and girls arguing back before it opened once more.

When Ceri Torres saw who was standing on the other side, she glanced at Lessa. "May I help you?"

"Uh, yes," Tony said. "Alessandra came up to me in Manhattan saying she was lost and needed help to get back home."

Ceri slowly nodded. "Lost she said? Well I'm glad she has been brought home safely. Thank you….Mr. Stark. I apologize for any inconveniences."

Tony's eyebrow rose at how Ceri leaned up against her door, her back slightly arched with her chest puffed out. He looked behind her back at the girls who were rolling their eyes. Must be usual behavior, he thought. "It's no problem. I'll just get going then."

Tony turned around and headed down to his car. Ceri yelled goodbye and waved and he gave a small wave back with a fake smile. Once the door slammed shut, his hand and smile dropped. Poor kid.

Lessa braced herself for the wrath of Ceri once the door finally shut.

"Who ran away again," Ceri stated, her ruby red lips curling back into a snarl. "I told you to stop doing that. Next time I will call social services and get you moved somewhere else!"

Lessa wanted to move so badly, but she knew she couldn't leave the other girls behind. They were her family. "Maybe I'll stop running away when you start being nice and let me find out who my parents are!"

Ceri glared at the other girls who scurried back up to their rooms so that she and Lessa were alone. "Alessandra, it has been ten years since your parents disappeared off of the face of the Earth and the social workers brought you here. They are most likely dead."

"You don't know that! I still can't believe no one has reported you yet."

"For what? Sharing my home to give kids a place to live? Why would someone report me for having such a...loving and open heart?"

Lessa snorted and backed away. "Your heart is cold and selfish!"

"Oh, honey," Ceri mockingly cooed, "I'm sure you don't even know what selfish means."

"I'm eleven not five," Lessa retorted.

Ceri snapped her fingers and pointed at her. "No talking back! Go back to your room. You're grounded once again!"

Lessa shot Ceri a dirty look as she started to climb the stairs. "I bet you don't even know what 'grounded' means!" She shouted and quickened her pace.

"Excuse me?" Ceri yelled up the stairs just as Lessa closed her door. Lessa took a deep breath and met the stares of the other girls. "We need to get her out of the foster care network….fast."

"How?" Emily asked. "We already tried before. Why would they listen now?" She fell onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Those poor kids that might come here soon."

Angie frowned. "What if she adopts us?"

Lexi laughed, fixing a headband onto her hair to keep it somehow contained. "Like they would actually let the Grinch adopt all of us. That's hilarious, Angie."

"Will you quit it?" Emily asked her. Being the oldest at thirteen, she was getting tired at the ten year olds comments. "You don't have to talk like that all the time and be mean to Angie."

Lexi shrugged, marveling her hairdo in the mirror on the wall. "I can't help it. It just comes out."

"Well can you at least use a filter in that brain of yours?"

Pursing her lips, Lexi tapped her chin. "Nope. No can do."

"Guys!" Lessa exclaimed throwing her hands up. "Let's get back on topic here!" All the girl's eyes were now on her.

"So what should we do?" July asked. She held a stuffed animal, a tiger, in her lap already in her Spider-Man pajamas.

Making her way across the room, Lessa sat down on her bed with a sigh. She stared at the drawer in her night stand where her parent's note laid. "I have no clue."

"What about Tony Stark?" Emily piped up. "He helped Lessa today and met the Grinch and now know what she is like. Maybe he could help us!"

"Maybe," Lessa muttered. "I mean he could be busy with many other stuff like saving the world."

"You could ask him, Lessa."

"You should!" Angie said, jumping up and down and ran to Lessa. "That would be so cool!"

Lessa laid down and traced the bars above her that held the upper bed up. "I mean it would be cool. He even searched for my parents today on his high tech computer!"

Across the small room, Emily fixed her sheets on her own bed, the only one on the room that wasn't a bunk bed. "What did happen out there anyways?"

Answering Emily, Lessa went into full detail about what happened. Once she finished, all the girls dropped their jaws.

"No way…" July breathed. "I can't believe that happened to you! It's wonderful living near the inner city isn't it?"

Thinking about it for a moment or two, letting the idea sink it, Lessa rolled on her side to face the girls. "You know what? I think I might ask him."


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome to chapter 3! Thank you for favoriting and following this story I really appreciate it! I have found out with a story that I took down from here that writing good AUs are a little tricky. But with this I will push forward and finish it unlike the other story!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Marvel and Annie or it's characters. The girls in the foster home and Ceri are based on the orphans from the musical Annie.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Back in the city once again, Lessa had an easy route. All she had to do to find Stark Tower, but just look up, spot the building, and hope you are turning on the right blocks.

She loved running, especially in the city. Having the heavy traffic, crowds of tourists and residents walk up and down the sidewalks, and skyscrapers, made Lessa feel like she was in a movie.

It took about five wrong turns to find herself back at the tower. She stared up at the top, her eyes squinting from the bright sun, and hoped he was there today. Lessa circled around the tower, finding an entrance that she could go through. The exterior of the building was smooth, as if the building was made without an entrance, but Lessa knew otherwise.

Having gone in there before, Lessa could find the entrance. Maybe she could even scream and try to cause some commotion to catch anyone's attention that was in the tower. Folding her arms, Lessa studied her surroundings.

Usually to gather the attention of a superhero, one would have to be in some sort of distress…at least that it what Emily made it out to be from her constant story telling. Looking around her, Lessa took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and screamed at the top of her lungs.

She felt ridiculous. Crowds walking by stared at her as if she was some sort of freak and it made her skin crawl. But it did get Tony's attention all the way up in the tower.

* * *

"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. said, cutting the loud music in the workshop off, "there seems to be a disturbance by one of the entrances of the tower."

Sighing, Tony dropped a wrench and rubbed his eyes. "What is it now, J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

"The little girl that you returned home yesterday appears to be screaming. And very loudly may I add, sir. She is gaining quite the attention from others."

"What is she doing back here?" Tony wondered aloud to his A.I. "I can never be left alone, can I, J?"

J.A.R.V.I.S. seemed to sigh through the speakers. "I'm afraid so, sir."

Turning his mind off his work on his latest addition to one of his suits, Tony pulled up the cameras on the computer till he found with the little girl standing still and screaming. Her eyes were clenching shut and her hands were fists at her sides while people passing have odd looks and some even ushered their children along quickly. She sure did know how to attract attention in a very dramatic way, might he add.

He wasn't sure on whether he should do something or not. Should he ignore her? After all from the footage from the camera, she wasn't in any danger. Well, any danger that doesn't include public embarrassment.

"What are your actions, sir?" J.A.R.V.I.S. asked as Tony sat in thought in the silence that filled the room since he turned the music off.

"Just ignore her. She will leave soon."

"Are you sure?"

Tony sighed once again. "As for right now, yes."

* * *

Lessa stopped screaming. Her throat throbbed and was dry. She squinted her eyes as she stared up at the tower, waiting for something to happen. But after a while there was no response and she frowned.

 _Some superhero,_ she thought. _What if she actually was in danger? He wouldn't even had known and she would've died._

The plan was stupid. Emily's plan was stupid. Emily was stupid. With a huff, Lessa spun around on her heels and marched back towards the direction she came from. Dread filled her as the thought of having to share the news back to the girls hit her. They, especially Angie and Emily, will be devastated that she couldn't get Tony Start, aka Iron Man, to help them.

 _Of course he wouldn't,_ she thought, _he is a superhero that has far worse things to fight than an old cranky foster mom._

She shuffled her feet with her head down as she walked, wanting to get out of the city as fast as she could. Her cheeks reddened when she remembered the stares people gave her as they walked past and it made her walk even faster towards the familiar block that lead the rest of the way back to her home.

It was strange to her that she navigated by mostly landmarks and rarely actual street names. There were so many that it made her head hurt, but _landmarks_ she could use. There are always one distinct landmark to every place. She bet the Grinch couldn't even navigate herself around the city. The Grinch would have to be intoxicated.

The breath was shortly knocked out of Lessa as she flew onto her back. Lessa blinked and looked up to see a woman towering over her and the look on her face was not apologetic.

The woman had jet black hair that fell in ringlets and a twisted dark look in her eyes as she peered down at Lessa. "I'm so sorry," she said, holding a hand out for Lessa to help her back up.

Lessa furrowed her eyebrows at the woman, but managed a smile and accepted the gesture. Pulling herself up, she smoothed down her jeans. "It's okay." Lessa glanced up at the woman than turned her head away. Chills ran down her spine and something about the encounter felt odd in her gut, but she shrugged it off and carried on.

The woman didn't want to carry on, however. "Excuse me," the woman said. Lessa stopped walking and turned around. "Were you trying to get in contact with Tony Stark?"

"Uh…yes?" Lessa clamped her jaw shut.

The woman barked a laugh. "That was a wasted attempt. If you are planning to again, I wouldn't bother. He won't listen to some little girl."

Lessa narrowed her eyes at the woman and took a step away from her. "You never know that. He's a hero who helps and saves millions of lives."

"He use to make weapons. The big hero use to kill people years ago, but you were probably too young or not even born yet to know."

Lessa scoffed and stomped away from the woman and pushed back the oncoming crowd that was going the other way. Her eyes felt tight as tears threatened to spill. It was a stupid reason to cry over some woman telling you things on the street. There was no reason to cry. None at all.

* * *

Slamming the front door shut of the home, Lessa bolted into her shared room and flew onto her bed. She sobbed into her pillow for what felt like hours and fell asleep.

Lessa didn't dream anything. Actually, she felt like she hadn't slept at all. Her eyes opened to dark room and she yawned. Her eyes ached as well as her throat and it felt like there was a huge weight stuck inside her head as it always felt like when she woke up from naps.

Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and waited for the questions to start. But they didn't. Lessa froze and blinked a couple of times, not believing how quiet the room was. A sliver of light peaked through the polka dot sheets that were fashioned as curtains and onto Angie's bed which was empty.

The clock said it was three in the afternoon. Usually, all of the girls were in here by then for a break from chores on weekends and Lessa knew for a fact it wasn't a weekday so they couldn't be at school either. Where were they?

Standing up, Lessa investigated the rest of her house, getting spooked by the silent rooms as she scoped each corner. Not even Ceri was present. No one was. Her feet padded down the wood flooring as she passed the bathroom and even Ceri's room, but they were both dark and empty as well.

Lessa stood in the small hallway. Her jaw slacked as she tried to comprehend her surroundings. Did she notice they were here when she came back? Where did they go? Where are the other girls?

Wrapping her arms around herself, Lessa made her way downstairs to the kitchen and opened the freezer. If no one was home, no one could tell her what she couldn't eat. Among the many boxes of frozen food, she pulled a big bag of pizza rolls.

Lessa hummed to herself trying to get rid of the silence that surrounded her as she dumped a pile of the pizza rolls onto a plate and stuck them in the microwave. If Ceri caught her doing this, Lessa would most likely be murdered and have her body chopped and cooked with other pizza rolls. Then, Ceri would serve the pizza rolls containing her body and serve it to the other girls.

The microwave beeped, shaking Lessa out of the disturbing thought. It never struck Lessa how unusually dark the home was at midday. She thought it could've been cloudy, but then she remembered the light peeking out of the curtain. Munching on the tongue burning pizza rolls, she flopped on the couch in the living room and sighed. There was still no sign of a soul around.

She set down a pizza roll and looked around. All of the girls' shoes were piled by the door as usual if they were home along with the Grinch's. It was like they never even moved from when she last seen them.

"You are probably wondering where everyone went."

Lessa nearly choked on her pizza roll at the sound of the voice. No familiarity was recognized in the voice from what she usually heard within the walls of her foster home. Her eyes darted to the front door which she had locked. The door had not been opened.

The voice sighed. It was light and feminine as far as Lessa could tell, but she looked around to find no one in sight. "Hello?" She called out. Well…squeaked actually.

"Over here, sweetheart."

Lessa turning her head away from the door to the other couch across from her and screamed.

"There is no need to scream," the woman from the street growled, pressing her fingers to her temples.

Lessa shot up from the couch, forgetting about the plate on her lap and flopped over on the cushion. The woman that sat across from her was the same one who bumped into her on the street. "How did you get in here?"

The woman smiled. "Well obviously not through the front door because that is too polite of me."

Lessa searched for the house phone from her spot. At first, the girls thought it was odd that the Grinch even decided to keep a house phone since they are becoming more and more uncommon, but at that moment, Lessa was glad that they had it. She bolted towards the phone on the small table next to the couch but she as her hand reached towards it, her hand froze.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Lessa pulled back and went to reach it again, but her hand didn't budge past the area it froze at the first time. She spun around to face the woman. "Who are you?"

The woman stood up and brushed off of her black slim dress pants. She smiled at Lessa. "I'm surprised you couldn't find any familiar features that you find whenever you look into a mirror."

Lessa froze. No, it couldn't be. But she did recognize the same jawline and mouth as Lessa focused more on the woman's face. "No," she said.

"Hello, my beautiful daughter." The woman smiled, but it wasn't comforting.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Marvel and Annie or it's characters. The girls in the foster home and Ceri are based on the orphans from the musical Annie.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Tony watched Alessandra run along the sidewalk and bump into someone. He turned away from the monitor but he turned right back to it when something caught his eye.

The person that Alessandra bumped into was a woman. He zoomed in closer on her face and he blinked a couple of times. Her face was familiar. So familiar it went back deep into his memories that he didn't want to recover. The woman's silk black hair fell in waves around her shoulders and her heels clicked rather loudly at each step she took.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Tony watched her walk along the sidewalk after Alessandra took off again. Tony shrugged it off and said a command to J.A.R.V.I.S., but he couldn't take his eyes away from the woman. Something was off about her. Something that screamed danger in his gut.

The woman stopped on the sidewalk and eyed the back of Alessandra as she ran farther away from the camera's vision. Tony kept his eyes on the woman till her eyes turned up to the tower and then she _vanished_.

Tony blinked. "J.A.R.V.I.S. did you catch that?"

"Yes, sir."

Tony searched the area for the sign on the woman but there was no trace of her. He growled as his assumptions started shifting towards something else. Superhuman assumptions.

As much as he had grown use to the knowledge of people possessing abnormal abilities, whether they were born with them or created in a lab, but that didn't mean he liked crossing their paths. But as Iron Man, he had to get used to it. After all, he was on a team with a bunch of them.

Luckily, any footage the camera caught was automatically recorded so all he had to do was review it to find a clear image of the face that belonged to the woman. "J.A.R.V.I.S. can you find out who this person is?"

After a few moments, J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice filled the room. "The woman on the footage was Ms. Jennifer Perez, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. That was all I could find. Any information about her is unknown."

Tony hadn't moved from the stool that he sat on in the minutes he sat staring at his screen while J.A.R.V.I.S. searched. He stroked his chin. "Of course, she had to be a former agent. Everything always leads to S.H.I.E.L.D."

"What always leads to S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Natasha asked walking in the room. She, Clint, and Steve had just recently returned from a lengthy mission and decided to drop by the Tower for a few days. The mission left her exhausted and yearning for sleep, but she couldn't find herself closing her eyes just yet.

Spinning around to face her, Tony motioned toward the screen. "Everything. Every person that happens to pass by the place, every disaster that happened in the last couple decades, and anything that happens to catch our attention."

Natasha strolled up to him and peered at the screen. "I thought your suspicions of S.H.I.E.L.D. ceased."

"They never do." He swiped a few files off the screen until the image from the camera was the only thing showing. "DO you know who this is?"

"Yeah, she was an agent a couple of years ago. I went on a couple of missions with her when I was first starting in S.H.I.E.L.D. Why does she hold your interest?"

"I think she might have something to do with that little girl I told you about."

Natasha rose an eyebrow. "The orphan?"

"Yeah," Tony nodded deep in thought. "By the way, what are you doing in here anyways?"

"I wanted to see what you have done overall on planning the reconstruction of the tower so far," she replied.

"I didn't know you were interested in that."

"I'm not really, but I figured it would help me take my mind off things."

Tony looked up from the screen. "Did the mission go that badly?"

Natasha's face was emotionless. "In a way."

"Do you know what happened to her?" Tony asked, referring to Jennifer.

Natasha shook her head. "I can't say much except for the fact something happened to her while on a mission and S.H.I.E.L.D. had to wipe her from the database and relocate her family. So tell me again what does this have to do with that little girl?"

"This Jennifer girl knocked into Alessandra and said something to her," Tony began. "I don't know what was said but Alessandra darted down the sidewalk and the other disappeared out of thin air."

Folding her arms, Natasha raised an eyebrow at Tony. "You think the girl might be in trouble. Even if she might be, how can you just assume she is after a run in on the street with someone who happens to be an ex agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"I'm sorry," Tony clucked, "did you miss the fact that I said she disappeared into _thin air?"_

"I didn't miss anything, Stark." Natasha rolled her eyes. Leaning on his desk, Natasha picked up a tablet and flipped through random files. "But you are right, it is a little suspicious. How did that talk go with the girl's guardian?"

Tony sighed. "It reminded me why I don't go out in public that often."

"That bad?"

"Very awkward," he corrected.

The air was silent as Tony was lost in thought. He didn't know why all of a sudden he was concerned about an ex S.H.I.E.L.D. agent possibly being a threat to a little girl he helped yesterday. However, it make him uncomfortable to think the woman was heading towards the tower but suddenly disappeared once Alessandra left after a confrontation.

Beside him, Natasha frowned. "Tony, if you are that concerned about the girl, go check up on her."

"If I do that, she might be dragged into some mess."

"No matter what any of us does, innocent people will get dragged into messes that we unknowingly created. It's all part of the creation of this team," Natasha told him. Her eyes threated to close, but she widened them.

"You look a little exhausted," Tony noted, changing the subject. "You should probably go sleep."

"I should." Natasha took a deep breath. Pushing herself off of the side of the table, Natasha left the room.

* * *

"You cannot be my mom. My mom is supposed to be sweet and caring. Not some crazy woman that pushes her child on a sidewalk and scares her." A chill went down Lessa's spine just thinking about the word. Mother.

Lessa's supposed mother walked up to her and caressed her face. "We cannot choose our family, Alessandra. You have been wanting to know who I was and now I am here." She kneeled down to Lessa's height. "I'm your mother."

"I think you already established that," Lessa sputtered. "What's your name?"

Lessa's mother brushed strand of hair way from Lessa's eyes and it made her skin crawl. "Jennifer."

"And my dad?"

Jennifer hesitated. "Carlos."

Lessa narrowed her eyes and pulled away from Jennifer's grasp. "You don't seem sure about his name."

"It's been so long since I had last seen your father," Jennifer admitted with a sigh. "He would have been delighted to see you."

Would have? There were many ways the sentence could have been taken. But which one did Jennifer mean? Lessa had no clue. "Where is everyone?"

"I had to have them removed for our little conversation to run smoothly. Alessandra, I have been waiting for so long to finally get you back." Carefully, Jennifer reached out to Lessa's wrists and led her over to sit on the couch.

Jennifer's tone was soothing, coaxing into Lessa to trust her. Lessa didn't know if she wanted to trust her. She might not even be her actual mother! Sure, they look similar, but there are always people not related that look alike in one way or another. "How was I taken away from you?"

"There is this organization that I worked for that protects people from unknown forces," Jennifer told Lessa. "After working for a couple of days, I came home to an empty house just like you just did. And just as for you, my family was supposed to be there all _safe_ and waiting for my arrival." She paused. "I tried to contact your father but then my work called and told me why they – you – were gone."

"What did they say?" Lessa asked.

A dark expression took over Jennifer's face. "They said they had to remove the both of you from me because of the threat you both faced from the problems of the days that I was working. I tried to find you both, but I was shoved in the dark and sent away for many years. After those years I finally had enough and managed to escape."

"So here you are," Lessa concluded. The confession was heavy, but she could feel holes in it. "And you want me to leave here and come with you to wherever you live?"

Jennifer smiled and held Lessa's hand. "You catch on so quickly. Yes, I heard about your attempts to find me and now I'm here. There is no reason to look any further, Alessandra."  
The weight from Lessa's search lifted off of her shoulders no matter how odd and suspicious the meeting was. However, there was another she had to finish. Pulling away from Jennifer's grasp, Lessa stood up. "I don't know if I can. I can't leave the other girls when I don't know if they will be alright."

"Don't worry. I will make sure they will be away from Ceri and taken to better homes."

"You promise?"

Jennifer smiled once again. "I promise."


	5. Chapter 5

**A new chapter is up yay! It is scary, yet relieving writing this story because I know the story will go from start to finish. Why is it scary? It is scary writing this because despite of all of the Agents of Shield, the Marvel films I have watched, and all the other fanfics I have read, I still feel like I am going to screw up the canon characters. But it's a fanfic right? So many things can happen in fanfiction!**

 **As I continue to write this story, I figured out that it might not be very long. As an estimate to how long it will be, my estimate is roughly less than twenty chapters depending on how much happens within each chapter and the amount of editing I do. Thank you for your support on following and even favoriting this story! I really, really appreciate it! And even though I replied to the only comment on this story, I am sure if you are reading this by now you already figured out it's not exactly like the musical. Of course, I did start it off that way but that is how this story started off fo rme in my head and where I gained the inspiration to sit down and write all of this.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Marvel and Annie or it's characters. The girls in the foster home and Ceri are based on the orphans from the musical Annie.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

Chapter 5

Tony kept procrastinating against seeing if the girl was alright. She hasn't been back to the tower screaming her head off at all, so it has to be a good sign. Right? He kept himself busy working with J.A.R.V.I.S. and every now and then with Pepper on the tower, shaping it up to be the new Avengers Tower. He felt it suited right to name and design the building after the team instead himself.

But Jennifer and Alessandra Perez still lingered in the back of his mind. He had encountered many people that was suspicious ever since the battle in the city, but why did they catch his attention? He swore he sometimes saw them outside of his tower. Hell, just then he swore he saw the kid's foster mom outside...

He wasn't hallucinating.

Outside was none other than Ceri Torres, Lessa's foster mother, screaming up at his tower by the entrance. Tony groaned and told J.A.R.V.I.S. to let her through the door but not anywhere else. He went down to meet her.

"Tony Stark where is Alessandra?" Ceri screeched at him in the lobby. Her worn face reddened with fury and it looked like she hadn't slept in days from the bags under her eyes. And the rumpled jeans and blouse she wore that looked as if it she put it on in a rush.

Tony rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I haven't seen the girl since I took her back home."

Ceri let out a deep raspy laugh and staggered towards Tony with a pointed finger. "Don't play with me. Alessandra is not home and I heard the girls mentioning how she was coming back here. Now where is the kid?"

"Uh," Tony was at a loss of words. His stomach sank at the wake up call that his uneasiness that he felt about the whole situation with the girl felt. "She's gone?"

"Yes. I already called the police if you were wondering and nothing," Ceri growled. "I have searched myself too all over this goddamn city to find no Alessandra running around with that worthless dream of hers. She is in this building and I know it."

"Look, I apologize, but I would have known if she was somewhere here." He swallowed not knowing how else to continue.

The fury in Ceri's face vanished and she burst into tears. Covering her face with her hands, she wept. "I never thought I would be distraught over her after all the trouble she caused. You know, I know all the history of the other little girls and why they are in the system, but nothing on her," she choked out between sobs. "She just appeared out of nowhere with a couple of social workers on my doorstep. I just - I just..." Walking up to Tony, she laid her forehead on his shoulder and continued to cry into her hands.

The action caught Tony by surprise and he stood frozen. He was terrible at trying to comfort people, let alone someone close to him. Now there he was standing in the small lobby of the what is to be the new Avenger's Tower with a strange woman sobbing on his shoulder. "When was the last time you saw her?" He asked.

Lifting her head, Ceri wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "Two days ago after she came home."

Tony thought back to the previous day with Lessa standing outside his tower. "Not even yesterday?"

"No. Usually she just disappears during the day, but she always comes home once it gets dark outside. I don't think she even realizes that I notice her returning, but I do!"

"Okay, okay. How about you go home, keep an eye out and let the police do their work."

"Will you help find her?" Ceri asked.

Tony hesitated, but nodded. "Yeah I will."

Smiling, Ceri threw her arms around him, causing him to stumble back. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome. You can let go now." He unwrapped her arms from around his neck and held her at arms length. With one last smile and word of gratitude, Ceri left the building.

Once the door closed and locked, Tony didn't move. The footage from outside of the tower replayed in his mind. Jennifer looked back at Alessandra as she ran away and disappeared and now Alessandra disappeared as well. They have to be connected. Now it's up for Tony to figure out how and where they were. NO one shoud bring a child into the mess of the unnatural world that the Avengers faced everyday.

* * *

Jennifer took Lessa to her temporary home a few hours away from Manhattan. It was strange for Lessa to see the countryside after living in the city for all her life. It was foreign to her. The two were there in a blink of an eye that caught Lessa off guard. Jennifer didn't explain how they had gotten there in less than a minute and Lessa didn't want to ask just yet.

The home was small and a little run down. The bathroom, kitchen, and small room that Jennifer gave Lessa wasn't clean and it made Lessa want to clean for once. There were two rooms on either side of the short and narrow hallway. The carpet had a yellow tinge to it and Lessa knows by the color it wasn't intended to be that way. The walls were also a bit yellow with lots of markings on it all throughout the house and the kitchen had little food in it.

By the time she was trying to get comfortable on the cot Jennifer had set up, she began to regret her choice on coming. How could she just leave like that without even considering the promise that she made to the other girls? What about little Angie who has looked up to Lessa and depended on her to help her with her homework? Who would stand up for her against Lexi?

A few hours beforehand, "dinner" came in two boxes from a take-out restaurant in the city. Jennifer said that they were going to travel around. Lessa asked why there were going to.

"I need you to help me with very important things, Alessandra," Jennifer said as she twisted her noodles with a platic fork.

Lessa took a bite of chicken and swallowed. "What kind of things?"

"Very important things that will change the world for the greater good." Jennifer smiled warmly at her daughter. Lessa felt uncomfortable when she smiled at her. Whatever the "things" were, made Lessa also uncomfortable. But she shrugged it off. Jennifer was her mother and children can trust their mothers. Right?

Lessa wasn't so sure as she stared at the cracked wall in the tiny room. They planned to be there for a few days once Jennifer finished a "thing." Lessa wasn't needed for that luckily, but Jennifer reassured her that she will help for whatever they were going to next.

They moved around five times in the matter of three weeks. The chores that Jennifer sent Lessa to do scared her. She had to sneak in buildings, steal objects,lie, run from the police, and learn how to hack and steal files from S.H.I.E.L.D.

"It's for the greater good," Jennifer always said. "You will see how in the future. The world will be at peace and there will be no more bad people."

Lessa mentally scoffed at her choice of words. Despite reminding Jennifer her age, her mother still always talked to her as if she was seven and not eleven. Over the past three weeks, Lessa had learned how do things she never even dreamed of learning. She could hardly believe she could do any of those in the matter of three weeks, but she did. Lessa didn't know what to think of it but her mother praised her all the time.

"WHat is S.H.I.E.L.D., mom?" Lessa asked one night.

Setting down the papers she was looking over, Jennifer was silent.

"Mom?"

A dark look grew in Jennifer's eyes during the silence that made Lessa regret asking. She covered herself with a thin blanket on the cot.

"Do you remember the story about the organization that I told you when we first met?" Jennifer finally said.

Lessa nodded. "Yes."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is that organization. The people who run it have twisted sick minds. S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded on the idea to help and saves people from abnormal threats. For example, alien invasions and... and people with abnormal abilities. If they suspect or find out anyone with abilities they strip their family from them and perform tests on them while locked away."

"What kind of tests do they do?" Lessa whispered, taking all the information and relating it to the many files she had recovered.

"Terrible ones no living being should ever go through. And it's our job to help take them down along with others working inside the walls of the organization." Jennifer clenched her teeth as she spoke. Over the time her daughter traveled with her, Jennifer tried to remain calm and nuetral. Her wall started to crack as she spoke of S.H.I.E.L.D.

That was all Jennifer spoke of S.H.I.E.L.D.

With the software on a computer she retrieved one day, Lessa typed in her old address for a satellite view. Of course it was just a picture and she couldn't see any of the girls, but it made her home sick. She missed home so badly. She missed being sassy with Ceri and the late night talks with the girls. That, and her stupid plan to ask Tony for the promise she made to the girls didn't work at all. She may never ask him.

Lessa absorbed the image in her mind. She remembered the detail of the brick building and the street she played on knowing it would be the last time she it.

Lessa swallowed the lump in her throat hoping it wouldn't be the last time after what her mother had planned to do the next day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Marvel and Annie or it's characters. The girls in the foster home and Ceri are based on the orphans from the musical Annie.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

Natasha informed the Avengers about recent hacks in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database during one of their catch ups. Fury had been grilling her and many agents to figure out who it was, but it was tricky to trace where they were coming from and who was doing it.

"They are clever," Clint said leaning back into the sofa. "Bouncing around the country like that and using different computers like that...classic. They better find out soon. Fury is getting a tad bit irritating ever since it started happening."

Steve frowned. "I thought S.H.I.E.L.D. could stop the hacks in a heartbeat."

"Oh they can," Clint replied. "They are just having a little fun and wasting time while their files go missing."

"Why is it whenever we do see each other all at once again, we always talk about S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Tony wondered aloud walking back to the seating area with a drink in his hand. "Why don't we talk about something else...like movies or something?"

"Yeah," Bruce agreed. "Why don't we talk about something else?" Talking about the organization made him uneasy at times. He wasn't too pleased with them after New York.

Clint nodded and looked over at Tony. "How is the search for the kid going?"

Tony tensed at the mention of Lessa. Over the span of three weeks he came up with nothing. It confused and frustrated the hell out of him. How hard is it to find an eleven year old girl? Apparently it is pretty hard for someone known to be a genius with advanced technology. "Not good, but I know for sure she isn't in the city anymore."

"WHat did you tell her foster mom?" Natasha asked, sipping on her drink.

"Nothing."

"You should tell her something soon and find the girl faster than you are right now. I would get some agents in S.H.I.E.L.D. to help you, but as we all know, their hands are tied."

Shifting in his seat, Steve looked up at Tony. "Someone has to find her soon. How old is she?"

Tony went through his memories back to when he took the kid back home. "Eleven." His heart fell at the number. An eleven year old foster kid was missing and was not even in one of the largest cities in the country. "She has to be found and I have to be the one that finds her. It has been weeks since she went missing."

"Anything can happen to a child who has been gone for that long," Bruce agreed with his head hung low. "She could be dead, Tony."

Tony shook his head. "No she isn't. I just have to look harder. Think of ways to find her I haven't already."

"Do what shield does and search any cameras or photographs," Natasha suggested. She set her glass down on the coffee table and smoothed out her dress. "Or anything suspicious that has happened around this area in the last couple of weeks."

"How about the hackings?" Clint added. "You said she disappeared about three agos, right? Isn't that when all the hacking drama started? That could be something to go off of."

Natasha's phone went off next to her glass and she picked it up, swiping the screen to unlock it.

"What is it?"

Locking the screen, she looked up at Tony. "I have a feeling you should come back to base with us."

Tony folder his arms. "Why?"

"Because I think you might want to see who was behind all the hacks."

* * *

Once Jennifer told her to hide, guns began to fire all around the house. Lessa hid under the moldy sink with her hands covering her ears with tears streaming down her face. She regretted her choice. She regretted her choice so much.

Boots shuffled along the flooring of the home with their guns pointed up as they went through, looking for the ex agent. Jennifer escaped through a window and hid under it in the bushes.

Lessa quieted her breathing as the boots came by the cabinet. They spoke in low voices with singals she didn't understand. Her slip up on bringing the computer with her wasn't exactly a mistake, but she didn't plan on the home invasion happening either. She didn't know what to expect to be honest. But all she knew is that they didn't know she was there.

More gunfire erupted and shouts came from outside with silence following. The silence came so sudden that Lessa didn't realize it at first. "Mom?" she croaked, uncovering her ears. She scooted towards the door of the cabinet and gently pushed it open, peering out into the kitchen.

There were tracks of mud and dirt all over the floor, but that was the most damage she could see. The light above the small stove was still on being the only source of light in the small room. Lessa released her hand from the wood. Her whole body shook as she was brough back into darkness. Her hand felt the bottom of the cabinet till it rested on the laptop she took with her. The files she took and copied were still on there, waiting for someone to read them.

The invasion happened right when Lessa was gearing up to sneak into a nearby S.H.I.E.L.D. facility out in the mountains. Jennifer told her that they were going to help someone escape. From all the maps and warnings that Lessa memorized, she knew deep down inside she knew she might not live through it.

What if the silence meant her mother was dead?

Lessa felt indifferent about the subject of Jennifer being dead. After all she had only known Jennifer for a few scary weeks. It still baffled her that someone would make their child do all this . Lessa was eleven years old for crying out loud! She should know better than to go through with a plan she was not comfortable doing! Lessa wanted to say something to Jennifer, but she forgot her worries until she went to sleep at night. AT night was when all the information she absorbed during the day came back like cold water, dumping her with guilt and regret.

"We lost her!" A voice growled from outside the kitchen after the moment of silence.

"Keep searching the area!" Ordered another voice. "She can't be far from us. Perez can vanish for only a certain amount of miles at a time. Go!" Boots pounded away from the house.

A different voice, more light, spoke up after the group left. Lessa couldn't tell whether it was male or female, but it didn't sound as threatening as the one giving off orders. "I think there might be someone else in the house. I saw another cot in one of the rooms." More were going to come back in to search for her.

Lessa gathered up the little courage she had and opened the cabinet door with the laptop wrapped in her arm. Crawling out of the tiny space, she stayed at a low crouch. Popping up every now and then, she looked outside the cracked windows and to listen for the sound of the heavy boots.

This was her moment to escape before they searched the house. If they found her, and if her mother's words were true, they would take her into custody allowing them to do whatever they wanted with her. She couldn't let that happen.

Lessa crawled into the room her mother used and stared up at the open window. There weren't any sounds coming from outside that gave off the presence of the boots. Swallowing, she stood up and pulled herself over the windowsill and to the outdoors. The daylight grew dim as the sun began to set below the clouds and Lessa had to make sure the agents wouldn't see her. But the moment her feet touched the warm grass, she forgot all about being sneaky.

She broke out into a sprint across the untidy lawn and onto the street. Her bare feet ached each time her foot slammed onto the pavement as a plead to slow down for put on some shoes. Lessa ignored the pleas and kept her vision on what was ahead and not behind.

"We have a runner!" The agent who gave off orders announced from behind. Panic set in Lessa when she heard the boots following her. The tears came back, burring her eyes as sobs threatened to take over her body's energy that it needed to run.

Her pace began to slow and the boots never did. They kept at the same pace until they were right behind her as arms and hands pulled her back.

"Let me go!" She screamed at them through her tears. "Don't hurt me please! Let me go!" A pair of arms hoisted her body off of the ground and threw her over their shoulder. Her eyes squeezed shut and thrashed against the agent's hold on her. "Please," she sobbed, "Let me go!"

"It's okay. Everything is okay," the agent said, setting her down on her feet, but holding her wrists in place. "Hey, open your eyes. I won't hurt you."

Lessa didn't want to. Her eyes still had tears streaming from them and they wouldn't stop falling. She wanted to go home. She wanted to go home.

"Hey," the agent said again, wiping the tears from her eyes, "it's alright. You are safe."

Opening her eyes, Lessa glared at the agent that knelt down to her height. He was young, possibly in his twenties or thirties from what Lessa could estimate. His dark skin glistened with sweat from the heat of the day put he didn't wipe it off of his worried face as he tried to calm Lessa down. "How am I safe? You tried to kill my mom!"

The agent shook his head. Other agents dressed like him were coming close to the two and he waved them off. "That was your mom?" Lessa nodded. "We didn't try to kill her. Your mother committed countless crimes and we had to arrest her."

"But you didn't," Lessa pointed out, clenching her hands into fists. "She escaped."

The agent nodded. "But we will find her."

Lessa's blood boiled. "Why couldn't you find her before? Why couldn't you have found her before she took me and made hack into your system and steal your files?" The agent's face grew solemn at Lessa's confession.

"Did you do that on the laptop?" He asked in a calm voice, nodding towards the laptop an agent behind him holding the laptop that they took from her. Lessa nodded. "Here is what we are going to do: You will come with us and you can inform us on what happened while you were with your mother, alright?"

"And after that?"

Pursing his lips, the agent stood up. "I can't answer that. I'm sorry." He released one of her wrists and guided her towards a black truck that had to S.H.I.E.L.D. symbol on one of the doors and lifted her inside.

* * *

 **Things are officially rolling now that Lessa is being brought into S.H.I.E.L.D.! I don't know if I had mentioned this or not, but Maybe takes place before the Winter Soldier (hence Tony rebuilding his tower and S.H.I.E.L.D. still in working order). Who is Jennifer working for? I'm sure you may all know, but I had to ask. It's weird asking questions about what is about to happen. I'm going to stop now.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for the response this story is getting! It might not be a lot, but it means the world to me as I try to push past my writer fears and write this story!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Marvel and Annie or it's characters. The girls in the foster home and Ceri are based on the orphans from the musical Annie.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Lessa felt uncomfortable during the silence in the truck on the way to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. She kept glancing at the agent next to her. He was nice, compared to their leader who did not sit in the same car as her, much to her delight. Studying him, Lessa deemed the young agent trustworthy.

The world outside grew dark enough that Lessa couldn't figure out where they were. Fear instilled itself onto Lessa as she thought of her mother running free somewhere, digging deeper into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database. S.H.I.E.L. Superhumans. Superheros. Lessa wondered what Tony was up to. She wondered what kind of new suits he could be making in his tower and how many of them were there.

She thought of the girls and even Ceri. What if they thought she was dead? The thought terrorized Lessa. Sure she was jumping to hefty conclusions, but it comes to mind first. Death comes to mind when children go missing.

Her eyes were awake and alert the whole time, just in case anything happened. Counting to herself the number of signs they passed to keep occupied, her eyes threatened to close every so often, but she would widen them anymore and pinch herself. That kept on for several more minutes.

The truck rumbled to a stop and Lessa was lifted down from the truck and ushered into a garage. What could be millions of armoured vehicles sat in rows under the bright lights. Other agents moved around them as they either started the vehicles or turned them off. Four agents escorted Lessa along a row that felt endless until they reached heavy doors. An ID badge was held up to the scanner and they slid open, revealing a long hallway.

Lessa swallowed and entered.

* * *

"Are you saying that you think that an eleven-year-old girl was behind the hacks?" Inside the conference room, Tony shook his head. It was the middle of the day when Tony came to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base in the mountains of Virginia. He sat in his workshop pondering on whether or not he should go long after the others left. Scenarios came and passed on who it was and what happened. He thought it was a joke when he was informed that Lessa hacked into the systems.

Nick Fury nodded. "Agent Sessions reported that she confessed at the house when they caught her."

"She is a foster kid. How could she have learned to do any of that in the matter of three weeks? I don't believe it."

"Well believe it," Fury snapped. "We were supposed to capture her mother, but we ended up bringing her daughter in instead. She can give us answers"

Tony snorted and poured himself a glass of water that sat in the middle of the table that separeted Tony and Fury. "Good luck with that."

"You weren't invited for this show, Stark," Fury reminded him. "I could easily have you thrown out."

"But you won't because you could use me as leverage to get answers out of her. I did bring her back home, didn't I? Does she know that the police are searching for her in New York?" Tony wasn't pleased with how S.H.I.E.L.D. ran investigations sometimes. Yet if he didn't know Lessa beforehand, would he have felt the same now?

"No." Fury crossed his arms. "She knows nothing and the poilic investigation was put on hold."

Tony almost choked. "There is a foster mom looking for a child she was supposed to take care of and you _called the investigation off?"_

"She will return back home once we are finished," Fury reasurred. "Alessandra Perez's mother, Jennifer, was a S.H.I.E.L.D. who went rogue ten years ago. She went into a mission and came out with abnormal abilites that couldn't be controlled because she nor the other agent who was with her would disclose what happened. So-"

"So you locked her up and relocated her family," Tony finished, rubbing his temples. "I saw Jennifer in the street next to the tower and searched her up, or well at least tried to. Natasha told me the rest."

Fury didn't look too pleased with Tony's interruption. His lips were pressed into a thin line. "Did she tell you Jennifer Perez escaped from confinment two years ago?"

"That was implied from my findings of her beside my tower stalking Alessandra. But one thing that still baffles me is this: how did Alessandra manage to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.? Jennifer must have did that, not her."

"No, Miss Perez confessed that she did the hacking herself. Her mother just guided her along."

"Willingly?"

"Would you do something your mother asked you to do?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "These are different circumstances. No kid could ever learn to hack in a high secured database in the matter of three weeks. It is impossible."

"That is also another reason why she will be questioned," Fury said. "We wonder if she holds some sort of ability."

"What kind of ability? I see nothing wrong with her except the fact that she has a psycho mother."

"I agree with you, but with how she caught on to knowing codes and even combat so quickly, you never know."

"You are taking this out of proportion. She could just be a fast learner."

"That too." Fury opened the door and looked at Tony. "Are you going to stay until you get to see her?" Tony hesitated before nodding. "Wait here."

* * *

The cold room left her uneasy. Dents marked the four metal walls, scratches following it. Lessa couldn't imagine what could have triggered the cause of the dents and she didn't want to know.

Her legs swung back and forth while she sat, waiting to be questioned. She already had an entire conversation mapped out in her head. She would say some random stuff, they would believe her. But things weren't that simple. Her lies could be detected.

The heavy door swung open as Agent Sessions walked in, unarmed nor holding anything. He smiled at Lessa and took a seat across from her at the table. "How are you holding up?" He asked her.

Lessa shrugged. "Alright. I'm ready to go home is all. I miss my friends."

"You'll be back home in no time."

"Once we are finished," Lessa agreed.

Agent Sessions smiled and folded his hands. "Can you tell me from start to finish of the time you spent with your mother?"

Swallowing, Lessa looked down at her feet. "I can try." After a breath, she told him everything. She was scared to tell the agent, but she knew she had to. Lessa had really no other choice if she wanted to go home. He calmed her, after being the only one nice and caring back at the house when her mother escaped, S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't that bad from what she could tell. And what she had saw and read already could be the tip of a massive iceberg of secrets and lies, acting and games.

Agent Sessions sat silently and listened to Lessa talk, absorbing all her words and her body language as she spoke. That was another thing Lessa was grateful for. If any other agent sat in the room and questioned her, she wouldn't have said as much as she did. Her story had a lot of dry spots with endless hours of waiting in abandoned houses or on a laptop. Lessa kept her eyes on her shoes the whole time, glancing up every now and then at the agent, making sure he was still listening. An invisible weight lifted off of her shoulders once she was finished.

"Thank you for telling me, Alessandra," Agent Sessions thanked.

"It's Lessa," Lessa corrected, almost choking on her words. "Just call me Lessa."

Agent Sessions stood up and headed to the door. "Alright, Lessa. Sit tight for a few more mintues and then I will come back to get you, okay?"

Lessa nodded and felt tears well up in her eyes once the door sealed shut. This was all her fault. Everything was her fault. If she hadn't agreed to go with her mother, she wouldn't be sitting in the room, in S.H.I.E.L.D., right now. No. Lessa would be at home with the other girl, chatting and breaking up arguments between Lexi and Emily. The weight fell back on her body.

A sob escaped her. She pressed her palms against her eyes and took a deep breath. She needed to stop thinking about them until she gets home. She needed to supress the memories until she sees them again with her own eyes. Her emotions took over and she sobbed and sobbed until her body ached. She crawled off of the chair and onto the floor where she curled up into a ball, pressing her forehead into her knees.

Through her sobs, the door opened back up. A pair of arms scooped her up and took her out of the room and carried her down the hall. She fell asleep on the way to their destination.

* * *

 **What do you think is going to happen now that Lessa is in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody? What would you like to see happen?**

 **Thank you for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**This is a really short chapter, but trust me there will be longer ones coming soon!**

 **Thank you so much for your support on this story! Happy Reading!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Marvel and Annie or it's characters. The girls in the foster home and Ceri are based on the orphans from the musical Annie.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

When she woke, Lessa cried again. She felt weak, tiny, and helpless while crying. She wasn't a crier. Why was she? Something inside her snapped when the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents took her. Something that she couldn't ever mend. The old Lessa was strong and snappy, the current one was weak and silent. Pathetic.

The mattress she laid on was solid rock. Her body ached all over as she tried to roll on her side. How did she end up in the room? It was empty besides the bed with the door cracked open. Who put her in here?

Lessa couldn't find the energy to lift her limbs into sitting position. In truth, she didn't want to move. She wanted to sleep forever.

"Since you care so much about her, how about she stays at the tower with you and Banner for the time being?" a deep voice suggested with a hint of irritation, coming down the hallway. Lessa's head perked up.

"Are you sure about that? Wouldn't you want her to be here so you can watch her for any abilities you're placing bets on?"

Lessa knew that voice. She knew him! It was Tony Stark! She put her excitement on pause. Why was he here? She could see Tony stop by her doorway talking to someone out of view. It must be the owner of the deep voice. She continued to listen in on the conversation and lied back down, pretending to sleep. It was a habit of hers.

Outside of the room, Tony shoved his hands into the pockets of his jean. "Yeah, I'll take her. But only until you get this mess with her mother under control." Fury walked off after informing that Lessa would leave that day. Tony stared at the door, nervous over the new responsibility.

Finding the incentive to move, Lessa sat up and stared at Tony who hadn't taken his eyes off her door. "I'm going to stay with you?"

Her voice snapped him out of his trance. He pointed inside the room, asking for permission to enter, and she nodded. Pushing the door open, he strolled in and leaned against the wall. "If you want to. I'm sure after all this the least thing you would want to do is to stay with a 'superhero'."

"I would like to," she said, cutting him off. "They said I could leave after telling them what happened."

"Do you not want to go back home?"

Lessa shrugged, playing with the corner of the sheet. "I do, but not yet. I'm not sure I would be able to take all the questions they will ask me. They are pretty nosy and curious. Can we leave?"

"Yeah, come on." Tony nodded to the hallway, leaving the base back to New York.

* * *

Lessa never realized how home sick she was until the skyscrapers came into view. Tears came to her eyes as they saw familiar buildings and streets. She was home in her city. A city that she felt safe in despite the amount of crime that took place everyday.

From her previous visit, Avengers Tower definitely had gotten an upgrade. What was once under construction, were now finished. The lights bounced off the glossy tiles, the dark gray wall matched the exterior.

"Wait here while I get your room set up," Tony told her, motioning towards the lounge. Lessa nodded and ambled up the short staircase to the sofas. She could not take her eyes off of the architecture of the open living space. Four sofas sat around two separate coffee tables.

Licking her dry lips, Lessa studied each piece of furniture, deciding which one to sit on. She chose one of the smaller ones on the end. The leather of the cushion felt cold against her palms.

Footsteps padded up the staircase she just came from and stopped at the top. She turned her head. The man was short with dark curly hair. He sported small glasses and a button up t-shirt. He stumbled at what to say when Lessa stared at him.

"Tony said you were up here," the man said. "I wanted to introduce myself to you. I'm Bruce-"

"Banner," Lessa finished, blinking. "I heard someone mention your name while talking about me staying here. Nice to meet you. I'm Lessa." She stood back up and held out a hand to him with a smile.

Giving a small smile back, Bruce shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you too, Lessa."

She pulled her hand away and sat back down. "You're one of the Avengers, right?" Bruce nodded. "Which one?" She couldn't place his face anywhere on her memory of what the other Avengers looked like. Unless he was the giant green guy (The Hulk). Lessa spoke again before Bruce could give an answer. "Are you the giant green guy? The Hulk?"

" I am," Bruce answered, tense.

"That is so cool."

"Only if you make him angry," Tony said, jogging up the steps being Bruce. Tony patted him on the shoulder. "No offense."

"None taken." Bruce laughed, relaxing a bit. "How long will you be staying here, Lessa?"

Looking at Tony, Lessa shrugged. "No clue. Ask him."

"Until S.H.I.E.L.D. gets their priorities straight," Tony said. Leaving, Tony gave Lessa a quick tour, telling her where she can and can't go for safety reasons. "If you need anything, just ask J.A.R.V.I.S."

"What's J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

Tony pointed to the ceiling. "Only the best A.I. ever created. He runs everything around here. Say hi."

Lessa gave him a bewildered look. "Uh...Hi, J.A.R.V.I.S."

"Hello, Miss Perez," the A.I. answered.

Lessa jumped at the English voice. "Whoa."

Laughing, Tony crossed his arms. "It will take to getting use to. But you should have seen Capsicle's reaction. It was priceless." Lessa laughed as well, even though she had no idea who this 'Capsicle' was.

Lessa followed the directions to her room, hoping that she made the right decision on staying.

* * *

Nightmares of her time with Jennifer and the Hydra attack woke her up many nights. She woke up in tears. Her dreams started off with the late nights Jennifer would go over new information with her. Then the scene morphed into Jennifer threatening her if she messed any of their progress up. Jennifer screamed at her and she couldn't move. Lessa was frozen in place in the chair unable to breathe as tears streamed down her cheeks. Deep down in her mind she knew Jennifer never acted like this, but she always feared she would. The threats were distinguishable in Jennifer's voice.

After waking up, Lessa couldn't fall back asleep. She would just stare up at the plain ceiling of her room until the sun rose back up once again. On the tenth night, Lessa couldn't stay still. No. Not after the new nightmare she just had.

 _Jennifer and Lessa were about to sneak in to a base. In Lessa's hand was a gun that she held on for dear life with. This was the mission Jennifer prepared her for. This was where she was going to die to set a stranger free._

 _Lessa crawled into the small air vent, grateful that the air conditioning was on and not any heat. Her body scooted along the shaft, going over her mother's words._

 _Get in, free the prisoner, and get out._

 _She had no idea who the person was. Jennifer only showed Lessa a picture and went forth with the plans for the escape. Lessa had memorized the layout of the base, figuring out ways she can get in and get out without detection. Any alternative idea Lessa offered that could ensure her safety, Jennifer disregarded it._

 _It was sad to say that actually happened in real life too._

 _Lessa came up to the destination and peered through the vent before opening it. Her small body slid through the opening and laid flat against the ground. Getting up, Lessa searched for the door. The room was dark and empty except for a few tables and chairs._

 _Lessa made it to the cell holding the man of interest. The features of the man weren't distinct, but he had a beard. She unlocked the door, swinging it open._

 _The man followed without a word._

 _Someone shouted down the hall and Lessa clenched her eyes shut and fired. The kickback of the gun took her by surprise, jolting her hands up missing the target. The bullets flew into the lights in the ceiling. Sparks and glass showered down on her. Lessa screamed and covered her head._

 _Once no more glass fell, Lessa ran straight at the agents gaining up on her and fired her gun. Adrenaline pumped through her as she was in a daze, not taking in her actions. She wanted to live. She wanted to make it out alive._

 _Alarms shook the floor, creating a man-made earthquake. Lessa lowered her gun as another pointed its barrel at her head._

 _"Do it!" She wanted to scream. "Don't do it!" She wanted to plead. The gun fired._


	9. Chapter 9

**This is more of a filler chapter, especially the end, but I wanted to post something today. So here it is!**

 **Thank you for your support!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Marvel and Annie or it's characters. The girls in the foster home and Ceri are based on the orphans from the musical Annie.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

Lessa's eyes snapped open. Her breaths were short and heavy as her eyes focused in the dark room. She was in her room. She was in her room at Avengers Tower. She was not in the room at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base.

She was safe.

But the dream felt so real. It was as if Lessa had experienced it even though never in her life she had heard of this Hydra before. The pain in her leg lingered there for a few moments until Lessa got her mind under control. She was safe. She was safe.

Peeling off the sheets, Lessa hopped of the bed and paced the room. The room was fairly large with a queen sized bed, a dresser filled with clothes brought from her foster home, and a desk. Painted light gray, the walls were calming to look at as her tears slowed and stopped.

The ignited city outside had cast flickering lights and shadows on the wall. She walked towards it and gazed down at their sources. New York City never does sleep. Despite it being in the early hours not long after midnight, cars still drove along the streets. They continued to stop and turn at lights. Lessa could watch the scenery for hours.

She left the room and wandered the halls. The level that she was on felt like it went in a circle. The hallway she walked in felt endless and it frustrated her. When will it end?

Finally, it did at an elevator. Entering it, Lessa paused. There were buttons lining the wall next to the door, but they weren't labeled.

"Uh, J.A.R.V.I.S.?" She felt awkward talking to the walls of the elevator. "Can you take me to the kitchen?" Going up two floors, the doors opened up to a vast dining room connected with a kitchen. She padded over onto the cold kitchen tiles towards the fridge.

The fridge was as large as Lessa expected it to be. It was large, but no larger than the one at Ceri's with the right half the fridge and the left the freezer. Browsing through both contents of either side of the fridge, she found nothing appealing. She shut its doors with a sigh.

The cabinets were next. Lessa loved looking through cabinets. They were fun to scrounge through. A tall cabinet sat next to the fridge at the end. Opening it, Lessa found the gold. Not only were there healthy foods Lessa never heard of, but the beloved junk food. Potato chips, macaroni and cheese, a small bag of donuts, and Oreos. She reached towards the Oreos.

"Don't you dare touch the Oreos," Came a voice from behind her. Lessa froze, her hand a few inches away from the package. "Drop your hand now." Lessa obeyed and dropped her hand. She turned.

Another man stood before her with his own hand stretched out in warning. He looked like he just rolled out of bed to stop her from eating the Oreos. His dark blond hair stuck up in every direction and his wrinkled t-shirt and pajama bottoms. But his eyes were alert and full of...fear?

If someone tried to eat her Oreos, she would fear for her life too. "Are they yours?"

The blond dropped his hand, but remained crouched, ready to attack. "Yes. And I just recently got more after my other ones were stolen. Now I would recommend for you to step away from the oreos."

Lessa tapped her chin. "That's saddening. You know what would be just as bad?"

The man's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"If I just happen to steal one." She spun around and peeled open the package, snatching an oreo and popping it into her mouth. The man let out an frustrated cry as he lunged toward to cabinet. Lessa darted out of the way and he closed the door in a flash. "Wow you really do care about your oreos," she noted, chewing on the cookie.

"They are one of the only cookies I take pride in eating," he said. His blue eyes surveyed her. "Alessandra, right? Tony said you would be staying here for a while."

Lessa swallowed the chewed up mush down and nodded. "Yeah I am and call me Lessa. Who are you?"

"The victim you just stole from," he answered, but said, "Clint."

Lessa wiped her hands on her shirt, now feeling bad for her theft. "I'm sorry for eating an oreo."

Clint straighted, and stepped away from the cabinet. "It's alright. Now that you apologized, do you want more?"

Lessa nodded eagerly as Clint pulled the package from the cabinet and walked over to the table. Lessa dashed to the package and ripped open the top.

"Take it easy, kid, and take a seat first before you start scarfing them down." Clint rounded the table and took a seat on the opposite side of where she sat. He moved the package in the middle so they both could reach it. After eating two, he stood back up. "These need milk to go with them. Want a glass?"

Lessa nodded before taking a bit of her forth oreo. Once her glass was set on the table, she dunked her fifth one in and ate it with a smile.

Clint watched her with an amused expression while he grabbed a few cookies for himself. "You love Oreos too, huh?" He dunked a cookie in his glass of milk.

"Yeah, but I only get to eat a few before they are all eaten by the other girls. I don't mind though since there is five of us," she explained with a moutful of the cookies. "I'd say we split them evenly."

Clint leaned back in his chair. "Makes sense to. Couldn't sleep?"

Lessa slowed her chewing, not wanting to revisit her nightmare. "Yeah, I guess. I mean I am staying in a tower full of superheros with my freaky mom on the run, so my nerves aren't settling. You?"

"The room that I am staying in is directly above Tony's workshop. It's hard to sleep when you can perfectly hear the music blaring and shaking the floor."

"He doesn't sleep?"

"Not a wink."

Lessa's heart dropped at the news. How does stay awake and alert all the time? She pushed the question away until later, but there was another one that came along right after it. "Do you work for S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Clint nodded, finishing up a row in the package. "Have been for a long time. They're stressful sometimes."

"But are they good people?"

He tensed at the question and picked up his glass before setting it down again. "It's hard to tell sometimes whether the people at S.H.I.E.L.D. are good. There are a lot of secrets and secrets that have their own secrets."

Lessa pursed her lips. "Oh." She slid out from between the back of the chair and table and stood up. She hoped they were trustworthy, but what agency wasn't trustworthy? Taking the glass off of the table, she brought it over to the sink. Heading towards the elevator, she told Clint, "Thank you for the Oreos, Clint," and left.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Please?" Lessa begged Tony hours later when the sun was up. They were in the kitchen while Tony took the advantage of no one up to pour a bowl of cereal."That's why I came back here a second time so I could ask you this."

Tony scoffed. "How? By screaming?"

Lessa crossed her arms. "It did catch your attention, didn't it?"

"Touche." He strolled over, bowl in hand, to the table and sat down. Normally he would eat in his workshop, but since Lessa was there now he sat at the table that was meant to be eaten at. The table was never used since the team sat in the lounge to eat or in the lab or workshop. Lessa followed him and sat down, staring at him for an answer. As Tony ate his cereal, he glanced up and found her expression still the same: wide eyed, eyebrows up, and waiting. He set down his spoon. "Fine. But no promises."

"Really?" She asked, holding her hands together. She jumped up from her seat and hugged him, catching him off guard and nearly choking on his cereal. "Thank you! Thank you!" She ran off back towards her room still changing.

* * *

Later during the day, she met the other two Avengers that currently resided in the tower. Natasha and Steve were only staying there for a short while before heading back to D.C. but Lessa was excited to have them there. She couldn't wait to tell Emily about meeting them.

Lessa didn't know what to think of Natasha. She was calm and collected, doesn't talk much except for the jokes that she would crack at the others, sending them either laughing or pale in embarrassment. For being the Black Widow, she was exactly what Lessa expected but didn't expect at the same time. She loved her.

Steve on the other hand, was amusing. The amusing part about him was watching him get annoyed by the jokes Clint, Natasha, and Tony would throw around about his age and slow progression of understanding pop culture references. He was nice to Lessa when they met, but she felt cautious about his character from how good he seemed. Lessa was put off by how respectable and nice he was all the time. Luckily for her, she didn't know how he was while in a battle when giving off orders.

Tony also mentioned Pepper, his current girlfriend and former assistant who now ran Stark Industries. She was busy attending meetings and working for her to stop by the tower for a meetup. Lessa was disappointing when told that, but Tony's best friend Rhodey stopped by the tower for a quick second.

The group spent the next night in the lounge, talking and joking around while eating take-out Clint and Bruce got. Lessa loved hearing all of the Avengers' stories, but she found them not peeping a word about the alien attack. Halfway through dinner, she brought it up.

"What about the attack that happened here a few months ago? How did that all start?"

The Avengers fell silent. Tony paled, clenching his fists as he stared off, Bruce looked down at his food, eating normally as if he hadn't heard the question, Clint had a scowled, Natasha frowned, and Steve took a deep breath. Lessa looked at each of them, waiting for someone to speak, but by their faces it looked like they were re-experiencing their parts of that time. She regretted the question.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. We can change the subject," She quickly said, biting the inside of her cheek.

Steve shook his head. "No, it's alright. It's just...the _attack_ is just a touchy subject right now." He gave her a small smile of reassurance, but Lessa didn't feel reassured.

"Oh okay." She sat on the floor right up to one of the coffee tables, playing with her food in the Styrofoam container. She never thought the battle affected anyone that bad, much to her ignorance. Of course the attack affected the Avengers. They were right in the middle of it all, trying to save the city. She just didn't realize how much, assuming it was just usual for them to go through something like that.

Looking up from her food, at the entrance to the elevator, something moved in the corner of her eyes. Her eyes flickered over to catch what it was, but nothing was there. She felt uncomfortable sitting there in the middle of the silent room. Lessa cleared her throat. "I'm going to go to bed." She closed the container, scurrying out of the room while throwing her leftover food in the trash on the way out.

She bolted down the hall and to her room, slamming the door shut. Her lungs took in air and released it at a fast pace that Lessa couldn't control. Lessa pressed her back to the door and slid down to the ground and closed her eyes. There was so much regret built up in her that she didn't know what to do. Should she scream? Cry? Punch a pillow?

Instead of doing anything she thought of, Lessa sat on her bed for the time being, watching the city. Her eyes wouldn't stay closed long enough for her to fall asleep so she maintained her current position, legs pulled up to her chest with her chin resting on her knees for an hour or two.

The scene in the lounge wouldn't leave her mind. She hated herself for even asking the question. How humiliating it was to see their broken expressions over the memories that she couldn't see. Whatever went behind the scenes must have not been the best. She still debated on punching something or not.

The door opened, and Natasha emerged through it. Lessa blinked at the assassin who sat at the end of her bed. "I'm sorry," Lessa whispered to her.

Natasha twisted her lips into a small small. "While I accept your apology, it wasn't your fault. No one has brought up what happened in a while."

They both sat, furthering the silence from a few hours earlier. Lessa stretched out her legs and looked at Natasha. "What happened?"

Natasha seemed hesitant at first to answer, but she did. "You know who Thor is, right?" Lessa nodded. "His brother, Loki, came here for... a source of power that S.H.I.E.L.D. was tampering with. He stole it, planning to recreate the portal he first came through with. Loki wanted world dominance. He believed us humans were weak and lost in need of a ruler. The Avengers was created as a way to stop him. So S.H.I.E.L.D. rallied up Earth's mightiest heroes to form the team.

Loki manipulated us to set us apart from each other, pitting us against one another after we captured him. He escaped and opened the portal that lead his army to attack. We won and Loki was brought back to his home world to be punished for his crimes."

Lessa stared at Natasha in awe. "That explains a lot. Loki? Thor? Aren't they gods from Norse Mythology?"

"Thor says they, the Asgardians, don't believe themselves to be gods but they basically are. It's all real."

Grinning, Lessa scooted forward on the bed so she was sitting next to the assassin. "My friend Emily thinks you guys are amazing. She believes in your ability to protect the world. Actually, she kind of worships you. I'm sure she is hiding a shrine somewhere dedicated to the Avengers."

"I'm glad someone believes in us," Natasha replied softly, peering down at the small girl.

"Yeah, especially after all the scrutiny you got from the media. But they are idiots anyways. You are heros." Lessa wanted to ask about her mom. The question nagged at her, but she kept silent, playing with her thumbs.

Natasha stood up after a moment or two, smoothing down her blouse. "It's late and you should get some sleep. See you in the morning." Winking, she walked out and shut the door.

The Avengers didn't believe in themselves from how Natasha spoke. Half of the media deemed them heroes, the other half villains. Lessa thought they were heroes. Her mother and the people she worked for were the villains.

* * *

 **Hey, everyone! I am almost done with writing this story, but I feel like it's going to have an abrupt ending that will make you think, "What the heck?" There are many different ways this could end, but since I have a lot of other projects going on, I think I might cut this short and end in the way I felt it would go as the story moves swiftly towards the Winter Soldier. We'll see!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Weeks passed by and Lessa became comfortable with her life in Avengers Tower. Steve and Natasha had left much to her dismay, but she continued on her routine of waking up, bugging Tony, sitting up on the large balcony for endless hours playing Sudoku, and missing the girls.

At night was the worst of her stay. Her dreams would start off peaceful. but they always turned into gunfire and ending with a gun pointed at her, frozen, not being able to move. Her eyes would pop open, filled with tears. Her body ached as she rolled over into a fetal position, looking out of the window. Some nights she would catch a shadow in the corner of her room that would move. She believed in ghosts and on the computer back at her foster home, Lessa would scroll through a website full of scary stories that dealt with the paranormal.

But Lessa didn't think it was a ghost. She didn't feel the hair rise on her arms nor did she feel a sudden shift in temperature. She felt the presence of a live human being watching.

By morning, Lessa would have shaken it off and continue on with her day. She would spend days with Tony and Bruce in the lab or workshop, learning about whatever they were working on. Tony would explain how J.A.R.V.I.S. was created and how the Iron Man suits operated (he didn't go into full detail however).

Tony didn't go into full detail in case she did have any ability that allowed her to retain information or learn things fairly quickly. In fact, he kept a close eye on her as she sat in the lab with him and Bruce when she wasn't on the terrace playing sudoku or playing some video game that Clint brought up to the tower for her.

Maybe Fury was right. Maybe she did have some sort of an ability. In all of deep honesty, Tony didn't want the kid to have powers because powers meant that she would be a target or she would do something reckless to help save people. Not that saving people is a bad thing. It's only when it's reckless is when it becomes a bad thing.

His fingers itched to contact Fury to see how he was handling her mother and whether or not they caught her yet, but he would shake his head and carry on with his latest project.

That day, Lessa sat on a stood with her legs crossed as Tony went through blueprints on the holograhm above the table. "So when do I get to go to school?"

Tony looked up from the hologram. "Huh? What about school? I thought it was summer."

"It _was_ summer. It's near the end of September meaning school has already started. I only went to the first few days before my mom took me." She rested her chin in her hands. "I kind of would like to go back."

After moving some pieces on the blueprint, Tony closed the program and the table went dark. He took note of how casually she mentioned her mother. _Shouldn't she be...scared of talking about her mom or something?_ "Well you're the first kid I met that actually wanted to go to school," he mumbled to himself before saying, "Yeah, you should probably go back. You're in elementary school, right?"

"Middle school. I just started sixth grade this year," Lessa corrected.

"Right, sorry. I will call them and get you back in. All right?" He forced a smile, uneasy about letting her go out of the tower. It's not that he didn't want her to, but he couldn't protect her just in case Jennifer decided to show up.

Lessa's smile was large and real. "Thank you! Thank you! I can't wait to see all of my friends again!" And at least she now knew what to say when the questions would hit. It was only then that she caught the fake smile. Her smile faltered. "You don't want me to go."

"No, no it's not that," Tony said, waiving his hand to dismiss the assumption.

"Then what is it?" She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to pinpoint the reason.

Tony hesitated on the answer. He watched her eyes narrow as she spoke, her face turning a shade lighter than the dark red shirt she wore. "It's because of Jennifer. I said I would keep an eye on you and I can't if you're in school. What if she comes to your school?"

"Oh." The anger building up in her detieriated. He wanted her to be safe. She never thought about Jennifer when thinking about going back to school. "Yeah, you're right. She might find me..."

"Lessa," Tony sighed.

"No, it's a stupid idea to think about going back to school. I'm sorry." Lessa shuffled down the the stairs and to the terrace. The sky was dull and gray, reflecting her mood at the moment. She sat down on her usual chair. The door opened up behind her.

"Go away, Tony," She snapped, not turning around.

"Lessa, you need to talk about this, you know," Tony replied. He pulled up a chair next to her.

She rolled her eyes. "Talk about what?"

"Your mom."

Lessa didn't meet his eyes. "There is nothing to talk about regarding Jennifer."

Tony leaned back in his chair and followed her gaze up into the sky. "I had a dad who didn't care about me at all. He would ignore me, yell at me, and not spend time with me. He was a pretty lousy excuse for a father, considering he ran a huge company that I took over when he died."

"Where are you going with this?" Lessa asked.

"Parents affect us in ways we don't realize half the time. Jennifer took you and forced you to do tasks you never even dreamed of attempting. Even if you are not with her anymore, she is still affecting you."

Lessa felt tears prickle her eyes. "Yeah and it sucks. I can't even risk going to school because of her."

"Not until she is caught. And when S.H.I.E.L.D. gets her, you will be safe to go to school, to see your friends, and to go home. You won't have to ever see her again."

"Do you promise?" A tear escaped her eye and it rolled down her cheek. Lessa wiped it away as she looked at Tony.

Tony couldn't believe he was going to make a promise he didn't know he could keep. "I promise."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

A few days later when Lessa was getting ready for bed, the figure in the shadow emerged. Lessa didn't see the person at first as she was rearranging her pillows. She hummed to herself, trying to distract herself from the anxiety that currently plagued her from wondering when Jennifer will finally be caught.

It worked up until she turned around.

Jennifer stood before her with a smirk playing on her red coated lips. She never wore lipstick when Lessa was with her. Lessa screamed and backed up, her eyes darting between the door and her mom. She needed to get Tony. She needed to get someone.

"Hello to you too, Alessandra," Jennifer greeted, strolling up to Lessa and hugging her. Lessa tried to push away from the hug, but Jennifer wouldn't have it. Jennifer released her. "I missed you."

Sending her a nasty glare, Lessa fixed her shirt. "I bet you did. Who else would have done your dirty work?"

"If you're wondering, no I didn't come back to make you do anything of that again."

"Why did you?"

Jennifer ran her hands across the smooth comforter. "I thought about the day I ran and S.H.I.E.L.D. and took you in. I am so sorry that happened to you, mija. I didn't want you to end up in their hands. I panicked and ran. After being on my own for so long, I forgot about you being there."

Lessa swallowed, ignoring how dry her throat was. "Excellent parenting done there."

"You definitely have your father's sarcasm," Jennifer laughed. "Speaking of your father, did you know he remarried?"

"Obviously not."

"He has two other kids," her mother carried on. "They are adorable I admit, but I wish they were mine too and not the woman's." She paused. "I found a house. It's small and adorable. You would love it."

 _You would love it._ "You want me to _live_ with you?" Every nerve in her body screamed at her to run. Run out of the room and scream her head off so Jennifer could be gone. Though the door felt miles away.

Jennifer's eyes lit up. "Would you? We could start over and I could be the mother you need, the mother you want. We can go shopping together, watch movies, and I can help you with your homework-"

"No." Lessa stepped back away from her. "I don't want to. Not if you're still against S.H.I.E.L.D. who are, in fact, good people. Well, from what I met anyways. Look, I don't know what they did to you when you were in prison or wherever you were that made you hate them, but they're doing what is best for the safety of people and that means getting rid of threats like you. You're a thief and a murderer." Jennifer shook her head, but Lessa continued on. "You are. I saw you kill people for answers and you were going to make me kill people as well."

"It was for their own good. We needed answers-"

"Get out," Lessa growled. Walking back up to Jennifer, she pushed her. "Get out of the tower and never come back. Stay out of my life! I wish I never dreamed about meeting you. I wish I never tried searching for you and wondering what happened to you!"

Startled, Jennifer stumbled back. "Alessandra-"

" _Get out!_ " She lunged at Jennifer who jumped to the side, dodging the punch. Lessa screamed and went to kick, put her mother grabbed her leg and flipped her over on her stomach. The air left Lessa's lungs as she collided with the carpet.

The room felt darker than before. Air was put back into Lessa's lungs as her mind wheeled trying to calm her. Jennifer kneeled down, holding Lessa's arms behind her back. Lessa tugged and squirmed underneath the hold.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. help!" She screamed to the A.I. "Help!" J.A.R.V.I.S. didn't reply. It was, and hopefully, notifying someone in the tower.

Jennifer shushed her. "I love you with all my heart, darling. I don't want anything bad to happen to you and I hope you realize that. Once Hydra takes control, we won't have to live in fear. You will be safe, mija. I will let you go, but promise me you won't hit me again." Lessa furiously nodded and Jennifer stood up, releasing her daughter.

Lessa cried the tears that shed in Jennifer's words. her wrists ached from the hold and she rubbed them, cradling them to her chest. The door burst open with Clint and Tony emerging from it. Lessa looked up at them and cried even more once she saw that Jennifer disappeared.

"She was here," Lessa sobbed once they asked her what happened. Clint sat on the ground next to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulder. She leaned in and cried into his shirt. "Jennifer was in here."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Where was your security system that you brag about when Perez came in, Stark?" Fury snapped as he stood inside the lounge area of the tower. Not only did J.A.R.V.I.S. contact the residents in the tower when Lessa screamed, but as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. "I thought every inch of this building was secured from any outside threats that try to get in."

"It is!" Tony defended. He ran his hands through his hair. "After we found Lessa I checked J.A.R.V.I.S.'s system and there were no disturbances, no tampering, no shutdowns, nothing. No one tried to get in from the outside."

On the couch, Lessa sat with her hands tucked between her knees. She couldn't shake the feeling of Jennifer pinning her down with her sweet voice. Who was Hydra? How will she be safe once it, or even they, take over?

After Jennifer's appearance, she couldn't sleep at all so Tony, Clint, and even Bruce stayed up with her playing boardgames and such until her eyes started to droop. She woke up when Fury's voice echoed down the hall as he demanded Tony for answers.

"But someone did."

"All because you haven't caught her yet!"

The argument went on for what seemed like hours and Lessa couldn't take it. She shifted in her spot, glancing over at Clint and Bruce who stood aside, getting their word in when they can as Tony and Fury kept going back and forth. This was all because of her. She was creating harm and danger.

Fury rested his hands on his hips and glared at Tony. "I will have to take Alessandra back to S.H.I.E.L.D. because we can't take any risks after what happened last night."

Lessa wanted to tell them what Jennifer told her last night, but her mouth remained shut by the fact that she was going back into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Tony scoffed. "She won't be much safer there either. People come and go through there all the time regardless of how many background checks and clearences you have. You won't be able to keep you eye on her all the time. You-"

"I should go," Lessa cut in. Tony furrowed his eyebrows at her. "I'm not your responsibility. I appreciate all that you have done for me, but you have the world and your friends and family to take care of. You don't need to add an eleven-year-old foster kid to your list. Mr. Stark you need time to heal after the alien invasion because to be honest, you're not alright despite what you say."

Ignoring Tony's stunned expression, Fury turned to Lessa. "Pack your bags. We will be heading to D.C. in an hour." Shifting back to Tony, his one good eye stared the billionaire down before leaving the area.

Lessa didn't meet any of the Avenger's eyes as she went to go to her room. She could feel their eyes on her at each step that she took. The feeling of leaving them, of leaving their comfort and safety, didn't settle right in her gut. Every instinct told her to run back to them and plead for her stay. Her conscious screamed danger at the mention of D.C. Something was about to happen. Something that Jennifer had told her was going to happen. Something that was taken for a warning.

On the last step, Lessa managed to turn around. "All of what my mother made me do added up to a purpose that I now only started to realize."

"What is that?" Bruce asked as the Clint and Tony asked the same question with their eyes.

Lessa swallowed, checking to make sure Fury was nowhere in sight. "The fall of S.H.I.E.L.D."

An hour later as planned, Lessa was boarding a quinjet headed to D.C. It would be the second time she ever flew on a plane, the first being to ride back to New York after Jennifer ditched her.

"Hey there, Lessa," Agent Sessions greeted as she settled in her seat.

Lessa smiled at the familiar (and trustworthy) face. "Hey. How long will it be till we're at D.C.?"

"About an hour. Not very long." He secured the gun strapped to his belt and sat down next to her. "How was Stark Tower?"

"It's Avengers Tower now," Lessa corrected. "And it was fun. I liked it there." She looked down at her hands, already missing the enormous building that she got lost in so many times.

"I bet you did with the great view of the city it supplies."

Lessa laughed at the comment and said nothing else as the quinjet took off. The ride was silent except for a few other agents speaking in low tones every now and then. The air felt off compared to the last time she was around S.H.I.E.L.D. More secrecy and tension lied within the aircraft.

* * *

At the Triskelion, Lessa ran into Natasha and Steve as they returned from a mission. While Natasha strolled around casually, Steve stormed up to Fury's office. He didn't acknowledge her presence as his eyes were straight ahead, body stiff.

"Is everything okay?" She asked Natasha in the lobby as she and Agent Sessions stood off to the side. Agent Sessions nodded at Natasha and kept his eyes in the center of the room, no longer meeting the assassin's.

Natasha brushed her short red hair off her shoulder. "A certain captain got his knickers in a twist over a simple task, that's all."

Not even a few minutes later, Natasha was heading up to Fury's office as Lessa and Agent Sessions went to get food. It had been a few hours since she had last eaten and she gladly chomped down on a sandwich given to her.

There was nothing to do there. Sure, Lessa met Alexander Pierce who worked alongside Nick Fury at S.H.I.E.L.D. who was rather uncomfortable to be around, but she was bored out of her mind. Agent Sessions tried to play some games with her like "I Spy" to pass time, but it didn't help.

As the day passed on, Agent Sessions informed her that she would stay with another agent. Sharon Carter, Agent 13. When told this, Lessa couldn't help but feel excited about staying with her.

They met up at her apartment building where coincidentally Steve stayed at. Sharon mentioned to her that if she crossed paths with Steve, do not mention that she was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Lessa didn't bother to ask why.

Sharon was wonderful. Staying in her apartment make Lessa feel awkward at first, but soon she grew accustomed to the schedule.

"You know my great-aunt knew Tony Stark's father," Sharon mentioned as they dined on spaghetti that they made that night.

Lessa almost choked on her noodles. "No way! You have to be kidding."

Sharon laughed and shook her head. "No I'm not. She use to tell all of these hilarious stories of Snarky Howard Stark when I was little. She was one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Is that why you became an agent?"

"Yes, she was a major influence on my career choice." Sharon smiled down a her glass of water as the memories resurfaced."

Lessa twirled noodles around her fork while a comfortable silence swept in as they both finished their meals. Once finished with cleaning up the kitchen, Lessa headed to bed as Sharon went down to the first floor to do laundry.

Living with Sharon felt like another foster home. It was temporary and she didn't even know if Sharon cared for her all that much. But Lessa wasn't shocked by the feeling at all, it only hurt her. The deep pit of loneliness from moving around so much expanded. It sunk lower in her chest that all she could go was stare numbly at the wall.

Lessa had been in the foster system for ten years, but she had only lived with her and the other girls for four years. The first five years was jumping from place to place. Now from being government property, Lessa was now also S.H.I.E.L.D.'s because of her mother. She hoped Jennifer wouldn't show up there.

* * *

Fury had blocked all communications to Lessa from Tony. He paced his workshop as he tried to calm his anxiety. The fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.? When? How?

He questioned Clint about it, but he was as clueless as he was. Sending Lessa back into S.H.I.E.L.D. with that as her last message to them didn't settle right. It bit his thoughts, baiting for him to find out what it meant.

There were many groups out there who wanted S.H.I.E.L.D. gone, but the size of their groups wouldn't even manage to take a base down let alone a powerful organization that was everywhere.

And what if Lessa misread her mother's intentions? What if that wasn't the case? Should he even mention anything to Fury? Clint might speak up, but Tony wasn't one-hundred percent sure. But it wasn't his job to warn S.H.I.E.L.D. Sure, he may have given them some tips on the new helicarriers after the Loki temper tantrum, but he didn't obey their command.

If there was a way Tony would be able to relax, it was if he could get answers himself. Answers from Jennifer Perez herself.

It took hours to find her, but Tony Stark manage to find Jennifer Perez.

She sat at a bar with new hair and a smile, drinking cocktails and flirting with men and women. Tony adjusted his jacket and strolled towards her.

"Mind if I buy you a drink?" He asked from behind. Jennifer's short loose curls bounced as she turned around the smile melting off her face. Her brown eyes, the same as Lessa's, widened.

The drink slipped out of her hand and shattered at their feet. "I would love that." Jennifer swallowed as Tony led her over to the bar, ordering her a drink. "What do you want, Mr. Stark? Are you here to turn me in to S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"You are already doing that yourself by going out in public," Tony retorted as he paid the bartender. His eyes darkened as she turned to her. Jennifer tried to remain calm. "I want to know why you were in my tower a few night ago terrorizing Alessandra."

Jennifer snorted. "Is that what she told you? And you have no business in knowing my interactions with my daughter." The bartender slid her drink towards her and she picked it up. Taking a sip, she made sure there was a stain left behind from her lipstick.

"Actually I do." Tony's knuckles drummed on the counter. "She was in my care and in my tower. I deserve every right to know why you, an intruder, was there."

Laughing, Jennifer brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Look at you, Mr. Stark, all big and bag with a suit that you murder people in. Definitely idol worthy."

"What do you want with Alessandra," he demanded, getting right to the chase. Jennifer would not sweet talk her way out of answering. No way in hell would he let her.

Taking another sip, Jennifer sighed. "Well since you asked so nicely, I want her to come live with me. I found a place in North Carolina I knew she would adore. The house is small with two bedroom and one bath, but it's adorable."

"You're kidding me right? You think that all the pain you put her through, she would live with you? What if S.H.I.E.L.D. finds you? You know they will."

"Oh no they won't," Jennifer said, shaking her finger on her glass. "I don't have to worry about them for much longer."

Now Tony was getting somewhere. "I'm intrigued to know why. Tell me more."

"In about an hour Nick Fury will die and the Triskelion will fall under a new director. A new director with bigger, better ideas than what Fury had to offer. Ideas that will bring absolute peace and end violence around the world in one wave." Jennifer leaned in to Tony's ear. " _Hail Hydra._ "

In a flash, Tony pushed her away, stumbling towards the exit. He could hear her laugh after him as she pushed through the doors and to his suit. His breathing was heavy and ragged as the suit closed and the light flickered on. "J.A.R.V.I.S."

"Yes, Mr. Stark?" The A.I. replied in its English accent.

"We're heading to D.C."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The gunshots woke Lessa up.

She had just fallen asleep around nine when Sharon came back up from washing a load of laundry. She heard her talking to Steve in the hall minutes earlier. She debated on whether to break Sharon's rule and speak to him, to tell him what was about to happen. It was too late now.

Lessa shot out of bed and raced out of the apartment and into the hall, right into Steve's dark kitchen. Rounding the corner, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. bled out on the floor. Sharon leaned over him, applying pressure to his wounds.

"Alessandra?" Steve asked from the other side of the kitchen. Strapped to his arm, his shield looked off from his casual attire, now dirtied with dust from the walls.

She gave him a queasy smile. "Hey, Mr. Rogers."

Sharon turned her head at Lessa. "What the hell are you doing here? Get back in the apartment!"

Steve looked between the two. "What is she doing here?" He demanded, narrowing his eyes at Sharon.

"Under Fury's orders she was staying with me." Sharon answered him. " _Lessa!"_

Lessa obeyed the orders and left the apartment, but she ran past the other door and down the stairs. Her heart pounded at a pace she didn't know was possible.

Lessa met the EMTs and Paramedics downstairs, telling them the apartment number and floor. They left her behind, passing Sharon on the way up.

Her eyes narrowed as they landed on Lessa. "I thought I told you to go in the apartment. I was looking everywhere for you."

" I thought - I thought -" Lessa couldn't form words. Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth as she realized how worried and frustrated Sharon was.

Sharon pulled her into her arms. "As long as you're safe I guess it shouldn't matter, but listen to me next time, alright?"

"Alright."

They headed back to the Triskelion, making Lessa nervous. Steve and Fury might have known what happened but apparently Sharon was still oblivious. But she would find out soon enough.

After saying their goodbyes, Lessa was transferred yet again to a smaller base until everything was under control. A day or two after Fury's death, Steve was a S.H.I.E.L.D. fugitive.

Lessa couldn't help but feel responsible.

She sat in her room, rereading the same paragraph over and over again as her mind whirled. The base she currently sat in was one that she memorized the layout. She could sneak out and contact Tony.

She wrote all over the book, scribbling the passage and ventilation system to map out her escape. No one entered her room during her planning.

Just as she wrote down a code to a door, alarms sounded down the hall. Closing the book, she tucked it under the thin mattress and stuck her head out of the doorway. Agents scrambled around, checking their guns for ammunition. These people didn't know their enemies were already inside.

A group of four passed by. The last one trailed along, eyeing the area before turning his gun on the others, killing them all with three bullets. Gasping, Lessa pulled her head back in and shut the door. She stumbled back onto the bed, looking up at the ceiling panels. She could get up there but nothing was high enough for her to reach the top.

She started stacking her chair onto the desk, with her pillow and blanket following. She checked the tower's sturdiness and jumped up, knocking a panel to the side and catching her fingers on a ledge. Her legs swung wildly underneath her as she pushed herself upward.

The door burst open with a woman stumbling in. her eye caught Lessa's legs and she grabbed a hold of one, pulling Lessa down.

Lessa's calf collided with the edge of the desk, toppling the chair and blanket over her. She screamed in anguish. Her arms shook as she crawled out from underneath the pile, the woman helping her.

Helping wouldn't be the word to describe the woman's actions. No, she dragged Lessa out from under. The woman hit Lessa over in the head with her gun, knocking her unconscious, and left the room.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The area around it was quiet as usual, but when Tony stepped into the compound, the dead silence felt wrong. Everything about the building felt wrong. Located in one of the mountains in eastern U.S.A., the base would have been packed. Quinjets would have been taking off and agents would be bustling around inside. But there was nothing. Scanning the area for any threats, Tony stepped inside the mountain.

Lights flickered in the dark hallways as he crept through. Blood stained the floors and walls with piled of bodies littered the corners and doorways. He shouldn't be in there. He knows he shouldn't be in there.

He walked along, staying as silent as he could until he reached the corridor where Lessa's room was located in. Tony kept his breathing calm as he peered into the open doorway. The bed was empty and unmade with the sheets spread out all over the floor. The desk and chair were flipped over on the ground next to a pile of white dust. The celing had a hole in it.

Something moved under the bed, knocking against the sheet that lied next to it. A light trail of blood went from the bed to the doorway. Looking back on the scanner, the dot led him to the room. Someone hid underneath the bed. "Lessa?"

"Iron Man?"

Lessa pulled herself out from under the bed and peered up at the metal man standing before her. She knew the red and gold plating anywhere from the countless videos Emily watched of the Avengers in New York City. She shifted upward from her curled up position, hissing at the pain in her leg. Her jeans were spotted in red and dirt as well as her blue t-shirt.

Tony knelt down. "What happened here?"

Lessa wiped her nose. "I think it was who my mom was working for. I was sent here after Nick Fury died. I planned to contact you somehow until the base went into lockdown."

"I'm glad you hid yourself," Tony said. He examinded her body for any injuries. "Can you walk?" Lessa shook her head and pointed at her leg. He leaned over to pick her up and she wrapped her arms around his armored neck. "Let's get out of here."

Lessa nodded. "Please."

He took her back to the tower. It was a long, couple hour flight with a few breaks, but they made it there. He didn't set her down till she was placed in the medical bay that was first to be renevated and finished out of everything else in the tower. She sat on a bed while Tony stepped out of his suit outside of the room.

Back inside, he cut off her end of her pant leg right above the wound. "I should have taken you to a hospital right away," he muttered.

"Need help?" Bruce asked, rushing in. J.A.R.V.I.S. informed him that Tony was back and in the medical bay.

"Yeah," Tony passed the bandages and cloths to clean Lessa's leg.

Lessa tensed as Bruce came up. He didn't say anything else as Lessa watched him treat her leg. It was gross to her, considering it was her leg that was shot and whose skin was torn.

The bandage was tightly wrapped around her calf and secured. Lessa inspected it. "Thank you, Bruce."

"As much as it is wonderful to see you again, Lessa, I wish it would have been under different circumstances."

"You and me both." With a small smile, she hopped down onto her good leg and limped out of the room. Bruce bit back a protest.

Tony was out in the lounge. She limped over and hopped up the small flight and stairs and towards him. His eyes were glued to the tablet in his hand, reading what was on it.

"I want to go home," Lessa said from the top of the steps.

He looked up from the tablet. "Now? Wouldn't you want to shower and sleep before you go?"

Lessa shook her head with a frown. "Can you take me home?" She asked.

Tony looked up through the clear glass of the medical bay and met Bruce's eyes. They seemed to have a silent conversation that Lessa couldn't figure out. Must have been a superhero thing. After a moment, Tony stood up. "Come on, let's get you home."

They were about halfway to the townhouse when she made Tony stop the car. Her whole body froze, her eyes fixed ahead as she tried to sort out her thoughts. "She will find me there again, won't she?" she asked, alluding to Jennifer.

Veering off the main road, Tony parked the car along the street. He wasn't sure how he could tell an eleven year old that their mother would. Helping the kid, Harley, out in Tenessee the previous year didn't prepare him enough for this moment.

"Take me back to the tower." Her voice was quick and sharp at her request.

Tony didn't put the car back in drive. "Are you sure you don't want to go home?"

"I can't," she responded, tearing her eyes away from the windshield. "I don't even know if they are alright. When my mom took me, they were all gone. And if they are back, I don't know how I could tell them about what happened..."

"Your foster mom, Ceri, was searching for you. She came to the tower and demanded where you were."

Lessa didn't hide the shock from her face. "She did? I never thought she cared. But either way I don't want to go back there. I can't." Pursuing her wishes, they went back to the tower. For the next few hours they were there, Lessa remembered walking in the building for the first time and coudn't keep her eyes off the view of the city. She planned on keeping the promise she made to the other girls.

More days passed at the tower. Nightmares of her time with Jennifer and the Hydra attack woke her up many nights and only Tony could calm her down. But besides the nightmares, something exciting was happening. Lessa was getting adopted.

Yes, that's right. Lessa was getting adopted. There was a family south of the city who had been meaning to adopt Lessa for a while, but she wasn't told. After going through countless calls among the system and through Ceri, the couple finally got a hold of Tony. After a call with them herself, she deemed them wonderful. Lessa couldn't wait to to live them.

She talked Tony and Bruce's ears off about what it would be like and the layout of her room. The situation with Ceri was taken care of and the other girls were taken to live in better homes. Angie was adopted by the foster family that took her in and talked to Lessa ecstatically over the phone one day.

She was also given the news that Jennifer was arrested and placed in a penitentiary.

On the day her new parents picked her up, the goodbyes in the tower were tough.

Saying goodbye to the Avengers she met over her stay were fairly easy through her excitment. Tony was a bit different. He was reluctant at first at letting the couple take her, but after reassurance from everyone, he pulled Lessa into a tight hug and let her go.

Lessa chatted with her new parents about the house and what the neighborhood was like. She was finally getting what she dreamed of having. Nice lovable parents who care for her and didn't mind calming her down after waking from nightmares. Alessandra was happy.

 **The End**


	16. Alternate Ending

**Alternative Ending**

Tony held out his palm to add light to the dark room. The state that the room was left in, iced Tony'd bones. The bed was thrown on it's side, spraying the pillow and sheets everywhere. One sheet covered a lump on the floor. Blood covered the ground next to it and Tony almost decided not to uncover it.

He peeled off the sheet and almost doubled over at what made up the lump. A small body laid crumpled heap, blood covering the person's bruised, tanned skin. Identifying the body proved to be almost difficult until his eyes landed on the ones that stared back up, lifeless, at him.

The body was Lessa's.

Blood soaked her long tangled brown hair, partly covering the hole in her forehead. _How could someone shoot a kid?_ Tony's fists clenched at the sight and wanted to strangle whoever killed her. He wanted to torture whoever killed such an innocent girl who just wanted to find her parents.

Tony cursed under his breath when he felt tears prickle his eyes. Covering her body back up with the sheet, he carried her out of the silent compound.


	17. A Note from the Author

Hey, everyone. I never did thank you guys so much for your comments in the last few chapters so here I am doing so. Your questions and comments made me think a lot about the story and actually helped me write it. You guys are amazing in your small number and have had a huge impact on Lessa's story. Thank you so much for reading.

Unfortunately when the last two chapters of my last Pirates of the Caribbean fanfic are posted, I will be done with writing fanfiction. This chapter in my writing life has been so much fun and thank you so much. I will always think of you guys when I write and how your comments, favorites, and follows made me smile.

Thank you you so much!

-TheWriterWhoWaited


	18. I'm Now on FictionPress!

Hello, everyone! I have recently created a FictionPress account and I will be posting my original novel for NaNoWriMo, The Demise of Andrea STacey Webster on it soon since you have to wait twenty four-hours/maybe fifteen before posting a story after creating an account. My username on there is LilyWinchester same as on Wattpad and it would be amazing if you would check it out within the next few days!


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